A New Future
by hpbrat2
Summary: Sequel to Back to the Past. What happened after Harry and Draco returned to the future? Do things change? What stays the same? HPDM future. Other pairings may happen, but are yet unknown. I recommend reading BttP first. Please review! AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for reading this! All I ask is that you review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea and concept. I do not own the characters, locations, or anything else that you may recognize. Please don't sue. I'm a college student if that tells you how much money I actually possess. Enjoy!  
**

**Just so you are aware, it is a sequel to **_**Back to the Past**_** and it will be a lot easier to understand this one if you have read that one (and it would make me really, really happy). But, if you don't want to, here is a brief rundown of what happened before:**

_Harry and Draco are sent to their parents 7__th__ year by an unknown spell. After telling their parents and godparents about their personal pasts they continue to live in the past, teaching Defense. Harry nearly dies again in a battle in Hogsmede. When Draco and Harry go back to their own time, the memories of those they told the truth to were wiped. Only a severe continuation of the way the things had been previously would bring their memories back._

**Chapter 1**  
**~~~5 years later~~~**

Lucius shot up with a gasp. He looked over at the clock just as it flipped to 12:01 am November 1, 1981. "Harry."

He jumped out of bed, not even bothering to keep his usual Malfoy grace in place, and hurried to the nursery where he knew Narcissa was with Draco. His son had been nearly inconsolable all day and he had not known why. It made sense now though. He poked his head in, keeping quiet in case Draco was asleep, "Cissa," he began.

She just turned and nodded. "Go find Harry. I'll take care of Draco and be here when you get back." Her memories had also returned and there was no way they could let the path occur as it had before.

He nodded and strode quickly to his study, spelling his night clothes into proper robes in a deep blue silk wool blend to help combat the cold fall air. He grabbed his winter cloak and threw it on as he grabbed a Gringotts key from under the edge of his desk, something he'd always kept there since Christmas of his 7th year, though he didn't know why until now. It was to a joint vault that had been set up between himself and James Potter with the papers that they needed should the past begin to repeat itself. Even after they'd had their memories shielded, the former enemies had been civil with each other, many of the prejudices that had so pervaded the school before their sons had traveled to their time were not nearly as strong for the remainder of their year there. It was hard to change so when you'd been working with the same people, from different houses, on projects all year.

He threw a handful of Floo powder into the grate and stepped in. "The Leaky Cauldron!" he called clearly. He stepped cleanly out of the fireplace and walked through the pub, people celebrating left and right, already, the downfall of the Dark Lord. He stepped through into the alley behind the pub then into Diagon Alley itself, the normally semi-quiet alley bustling at the unusual time of night. He and Severus had not turned to the Dark Lord this time around, though they were still known to have Dark leanings, unlike in the future they were not in the Inner Circle of the Dark Lord, or even an outer circle. They'd not been marked at all. Yet, they both still had contacts among those ranks and allies in those ranks with whom they dealt regularly. For Severus, who was working on his Mastery, those contacts could get him ingredients for his experiments and research that would have been nearly impossible to get otherwise. For Lucius, for his political career, though fairly new, he could not afford to alienate any potential allies, especially this early on.

He entered the bank quickly to get out of the cold and strode quickly to the front desk. "I need to get into vault 1776," he said to the point and politely, sliding the key on the desk.

"This way, Lord Malfoy," the goblin said immediately, leading him down a hallway that he had never been down before at the end of the hall. "Have a seat, Longhorn will be in with your documents in a few minutes."

Lucius was confused, but knew that the goblins knew what they were doing. An older goblin, presumably Longhorn, entered the small conference room a few minutes later. "Lord Malfoy, here are the documents you requested from your vault. Prior to his death, Lord Potter placed his and his wife's wills also in the vault as well as filing a copy with the Ministry, ensuring that we present you with these documents as soon as we were able. In the last 3 hours, Dumbledore has claimed to have read the wills and placed the child with his last blood relatives on his mother's side. Having been 'read' the wills are now sealed until the child is of age." Longhorn slid the copies of the wills across the table with a wicked grin.

Lucius smirked. "But if there were another set of copies that came to light, kept in trust by an honorable source, then it would unseal the wills kept by the Ministry and be forced to have the Head of the DMLE to look into it more closely." He pointed to another sheet of official parchment. "May I?"

The goblin slid it closer.

It was the safeguard they had put in place during 7th year naming godparents and announcing the soul bond. "This will help my cause as well," he said softly to himself as he remembered that day clearly for the first time in a long time. "Is there anything else I need to know, Longhorn?"

"Not at this time, Lord Malfoy. You are free to go. Ironhand has set up an appointment for you with Madame Bones at 8 a.m. this morning."

"Thank you again," he said before leaving the conference room. It was with a little surer step that he made his way back out of the bank before Apparating back to Malfoy Manor. It was now playing the waiting game before they would have any information on anything to help the child. The one thing neither boy had mentioned in the past was the location of Harry's relatives. Without checking through the Ministry, there would be no way to find them.

Lucius entered the Manor from the Apparation point on the grounds and made his way back up to the nursery. Narcissa was still in there with Draco, bouncing the fussy 17 month old baby, trying to calm him down.

"How did it go?" Narcissa asked before immediately returning to muttering soothing nonsense to the blond baby.

"I have a meeting with Amelia Bones at 8 a.m. I will find out more then, but, from what I can see, everything looks in line for us to remove the boy from those Muggles." He gently took Draco from Narcissa, being sure to keep the gentle bouncing. "Go rest, Cissy. I'll take care of our Dragon tonight. Harry should be with us soon and the Dark Lord is gone, there is nothing to fear that can reach us here." He kissed her forehead. "Should Draco decide to sleep, I shall be to bed in a little while."

It was nearly 3 o'clock in the morning before Lucius crawled into bed, Draco still whimpering, even in sleep, as he lay between his parents.

The next morning, Lucius had to rush to get ready for his meeting at 8. It wasn't like he intended to get up late, but the night before had just been so exhausting all around, but this was not a meeting that he could miss. He arrived at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement just as the clock chimed 8.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy," Madame Bones said as she came out of her office, handing a stack of folders to her secretary. "Please come in."

He did as she asked and, after letting her be seated, took a seat in the chair across from her. "Thank you for seeing me Madame on such short notice."

"Yes, well, one does not refuse the goblins anything. What do you need, Mr. Malfoy?"

"An inquiry as to the placement of the Potter child," he said bluntly, knowing she would not appreciate it if he just danced around the topic. He slid the folder he'd brought with him across the desk. "In a shared vault at Gringotts, James Potter placed a copy of his will, the one here at the Ministry was sealed, presumably by Albus Dumbledore, before anyone could have a chance to read it."

She said nothing, but took the file and began to read through the documents it contained, including birth certificates for both Harrison James Potter and Draconius Lucian Malfoy, indicating godparents, a copy of both the Potter's will and the Malfoy's current living will (should something happen to them), as well as signed notification that the babies were soul mates. She stood abruptly. "Mafalda, send for the Potter's will, immediately." She ordered through a speaker box on the edge of her desk. An affirmative reply was heard before she returned to reading.

Lucius longed to squirm under the tense silence, but knew that it would not be appreciated. Besides, Malfoy's do not squirm or fidget.

A knock on the door startled both of them out of their thoughts. The secretary, Mafalda, poked her head in. Madame Bones, the wills have been sealed and given to the Department of Mysteries for safe keeping. They said if you need them, you have to be the one to get them."

Amelia Bones sighed, though it was nearly a growl, and stood. "Come, Mr. Malfoy, if what you are saying is correct. The Boy-Who-Lived has been effectively kidnapped and we must take immediate action."

It was not until nearly 6 pm that evening that Lucius returned to Malfoy Manor. "Where is Harry?" Narcissa questioned bouncing a still fussy Draco as Lucius entered the nursery.

He kissed both his wife and son on the head before shaking his head in the negative. "Madame Bones has started an inquiry. It took nearly all day to get the record of the wills from the Ministry as well as convincing an Unspeakable to break the seals. Dumbledore showed up furious around lunch time and we had to break for nearly 2 hours while we fought the right to open the sealed wills in front of the Ministry." He took Draco comfortingly into his arms, the baby immediately snuggling into the warmth his father's broad chest provided. "Dumbledore keeps arguing Harry is in the safest place possible for him and has yet to release his location. Aurors are searching for the child now, but so far there is no luck in finding him."

"What of Severus and Remus?" she asked, knowing the two men were taking the disappearance of the toddler harder than nearly anyone.

"Also searching. Severus remembers Petunia from childhood and is seeing if any of his old contacts still have contact with her and is working through the Muggle world to see if they can find him that way. Remus is scouring Godric's Hollow to see if there are any clues as to his whereabouts there."

"And Sirius?"

"The will brought to light some things the Auror's wish to look into before they are willing to release him." He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Apparently his court date is not on the docket for another 9 days...and that's after I got it moved up."

"He is at least at the Ministry, though, right?"

"Yes, Madame Bones assured me of that at least."

They were silent again as Lucius wrapped his arms around his wife and baby. "I love you," he whispered after a few minutes of silence. "Go to bed, I shall sit with Draco once more."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for reading this! All I ask is that you review! Once more, as with all of my stories, I own nothing that you recognize, save if it is from my last story that you didn't recognize there. **

**Also, if this chapter doesn't make a lot of sense, I apologize, I had my wisdom teeth out on Friday and am kind of doped up still. If something, legally, does not make sense, it's fanfiction and I really don't care all that terribly much.**

**On another side note, Draco is a little advanced for his age, but not terribly so. I have a younger sister and a cousin that are about the same age as Harry and Draco and both of them are right around the same area. Iz is about a month and a half older than Tibs (about the same distance in age from Draco and Harry) and she speaks much more clearly and says a whole lot more than Tibs does, so I'm kinda using her as my example for Draco. If you have an issue with it, just chalk it up to magic or the soul bond or whatever. Thanks!**

**Chapter 2**

Lucius yawned unwillingly as he paced the hall, yet again, with a fussy Draco. The last 5 days had been near torture. Between all of his contacts, the Ministry's contacts, and Severus's contacts, finding Harry was much more difficult than they had expected. Draco had made himself sick with hysterics several times and, even when he wasn't in hysterics, nothing would calm him down. Narcissa was currently at Godric's Hollow with Remus, trying to salvage what they could from Harry's nursery for his new nursery. While money was not an issue, it would be so much more comfortable for the child if he had familiar things around, but first they had to save it and clean it to make sure it doesn't smell like the fire or have blood stains or anything else.

The Floo chimed, despite the early hour of the morning (only 7 am) and Lucius went to answer it. "Madame Bones! Please, come through."

"It will be unnecessary. I just came to inform you we have found the Dursley residence where Harry was sent and will be collecting him in an hour. It would be good if a familiar face was there."

"I will get Severus to watch Draco and be over shortly."

"Just Floo to my office. It will be open for you whenever you are able."

He nodded. "See you shortly."

She disappeared out of his Floo and he, after a moment to ensure it was clear and wrap a blanket around Draco protectively, stepped through the Floo and called, "Spinner's End!" He stepped out from the fireplace at the other end. He waited about 2 minutes for Severus to show up in the sitting room.

"Lucius, what's going on?"

"I need you to watch Draco for a bit. They found Harry."

"We'll come with you." He transfigured his dressing robes into Muggle day-wear (black slacks, a black button up shirt, and a long leather trench coat infused with warming charms, which Draco snuggled into immediately, despite his fussing) and followed Lucius back to Malfoy Manor.

Lucius went to change into Muggle clothing as well (black slacks, a green button-up shirt, and a grey peacoat), allowing Severus a chance to attempt to calm Draco, before the two men Flooed to Madame Bones's office.

"Good, you're dressed properly," she said, barely glancing up from her papers as she finished finalizing the appropriate documentation for picking up the child. She, herself, was planning on going, dressed in a knee-length navy skirt with a white button up and a matching navy blazer. "We will be Portkeying in as the location is already keyed in there, but you will be able to Apparate out as soon as we get the child. Lord Malfoy, Healer Tonks will be waiting at St. Mungo's to check Harry over just to ensure he is okay."

A knock on her door drew all their attention. It was one of the new Aurors, Kingsley Shaklebolt. "Ma'am, everything is ready to go."

"We'll be out momentarily, Shaklebolt."

He nodded and left.

"When we get there, Master Snape, I need you and young Heir Malfoy to remain behind the Auror's at all times. I am not sure as to what we will be getting ourselves into, but I cannot risk either child. Lord Malfoy, you will remain beside me until I give you permission to step away. Unless his life is in danger, my Auror's have been instructed that they are not to touch the boy as their magic may interfere with any injuries or his own magic. As his soul bonded's father, there is less of a chance that your magic will harm his own should his been out of sync when we retrieve him. Are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lucius said with a slight bow as Severus nodded.

"Good, let's go then."

They followed her out to the open center of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement where 4 Aurors were waiting, holding on to a length of rope. She repeated her instructions for them before they all grabbed on and the Portkey activated.

At the Dursleys', only Amelia and Lucius walked up to the front door. The Head of the DMLE knocked borderline harshly on the door, her anger at Dumbledore coming through, particularly as nobody had been told the child had been left here in the proper departments, thus they would have no way to check up on the child, as was required for at least the first year in placement situations such as this.

A thin, horse-faced woman soon opened the door. "Yes?"

"We are here to retrieve Harry Potter," Amelia said easily.

"There is nobody here by that name," she answered too quickly, moving to slam the door in their face.

Lucius stopped it with his foot, wincing slightly in pain. "Ma'am, you and I both know that is a lie and I suggest, Mrs. Dursley, that you let us in."

"You're all freaks like my sister was. Get out! Leave!" she shoved Lucius and slammed the door. They could hear the locks clicking into place.

Amelia knocked again. There was no answer.

Suddenly, Draco screamed and the door burst open, banging into the wall behind it. As they watched, the door to the cupboard under the stairs also banged outward as it opened. Amelia had seen enough and motioned for Lucius to follow her. Lucius had a Harry in his arms before Petunia had returned to the living room, a very fat blond baby in her arms.

"I said get out!" she screeched, even as her child continued to demand for more sweets.

"I'll speak with her, and get the signatures, take Shaklebolt with you, Severus, and the boys, and get to the hospital." She passed a smaller piece of rope over to them, already charmed to Portkey them to the Hospital.

"Let's go," Lucius told Severus, who was standing next to Shaklebolt, still holding a fussy baby, not shocking as Harry was nearly silently whimpering in Lucius's arms. He was much smaller than Draco, simply due to the fact that he was over 2 months early at birth and he knew that James and Lily had had a difficult time through most of his first year getting him to eat because he couldn't keep anything down. Only in the last couple months had he actually been able to eat about what he should be at. On top of that, his clothes looked to be the pajamas that he'd worn the night of the attack, they were worn, dirty, his diaper smelled horrible, and, judging by his squirming, he had bad diaper rash. Lucius wrapped him tighter in his blanket before grabbing the rope. Shaklebolt activated the Portkey and they left.

Kingsley spoke with the receptionist who quickly led them back to the Auror section of the hospital, the only section where security would be high enough for what they needed to do. "Healer Andromeda Tonks will be taking care of him. She is the top pediatric healer here at St. Mungo's. We sent two Aurors to Godric's Hollow, one to keep watch and security the other to bring Mr. Lupin and Lady Malfoy to the hospital. Healer Tonks will take pictures as we go, while it hasn't been long enough to prosecute the Muggles, it will prevent them from ever gaining custody of Harry again." He opened the door to a large, private room. "It is an adult room, but I figured you'd be more comfortable being able to hold him or keep the boys close. The bed does have side rails should you decide to let the two boys sleep. I shall be in the hall if you need anything."

"Thank you," Severus told the Auror. Lucius had both boys sitting on the bed, the back rail up, Draco curled up next to Harry, gently petting the small dark head.

"It okay, my Ryry," Draco said quietly. "Daddy an' Untle Sev good to my Ryry."

"Harry, will you let me get you undressed, sweetheart?" Lucius asked the smaller boy who nodded. Carefully, he unzipped the footed blue pajamas, slipping the small arms out of the sleeves. There were hand-shaped bruises and small, pinch-like bruises on both his arms and legs. His little bottom was covered with bleeding diaper rash. Severus clicked the pictures of his injuries as Healer Tonks, Narcissa's sister, came in.

"Hi, sweet baby, my name is Healer Andy."

"Hi," he muttered around his fist, thumb firmly planted in his mouth.

"I'm going to make you feel better, okay?"

He nodded, holding his arms out to Lucius.

Just as Andy finished healing his injuries and getting him dressed in a new set of emerald green footed pajamas, matching Draco's, though a smaller size, Narcissa and Remus came in.

"Oh, Prongslet," Remus said, crossing quickly to the bed as Narcissa greeted her sister warmly. "Dragon, how are you?"

Draco scoot closer to Harry. "Nap time," he said firmly, not wanting anyone to take Harry away from him.

"Yes, it is nap time, isn't it?" He kissed both of them on the head. "We'll be here when you guys wake up."

"Momma," Draco said, holding a hand out to Narcissa.

She came over and crawled on the bed next to Harry. She cuddled the dark haired toddler close and tugged Draco closer to both of them. "Go to sleep, my sweet babies. Momma will be here when you wake up," she promised.

Draco kissed Harry's head. "Ryry wis Dragon," he said as he pulled their baby blankets up to both of them. Both, after not sleeping well since Halloween, fell asleep quickly.

"What did Andy say?" Narcissa asked from the bed, still lying next to the boys.

"Unsurprisingly, he is underweight, still. He has eaten next to nothing in the last 5 days and if he had one diaper change a day it would be a miracle. He has a minor cold, but nothing a couple mild doses of Pepper-Up won't cure. For now, she says not to separate Harry and Draco as they'll lend each other strength to get better as well as sleep better."

"They can't grow up as brothers, Luc."

"I know, Cissa. But we can't split them up for a few weeks yet, we'll approach that topic when we get there. We need to focus on getting Harry healed completely and both boys enough sleep to make up for the last few days."

"Our main focus now is getting the mutt out of prison now that we have Harry back and finding the rat," Severus told them. "Luc, only you have the proper political strings to get that taken care of."

He sighed. "Let's go see if I can move a trial date up." He kissed his wife on the cheek and both boys on the head in the big bed. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Do whatever you can to get my cousin home to us," Narcissa told him softly.

"Of course." He looked to Severus and Remus as he passed. "I don't care which of you stays, but I want at least one of you here at all times with the three of them. Auror Shaklebolt is in the hall if you need anything."

They agreed and he left the hospital to, once again, go to the ministry to set right the things that had been so horribly set wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for reading this! All I ask is that you review! Once more, as with all of my stories, I own nothing that you recognize, save if it is from my last story, that you didn't recognize there. **

**Okay, so I suck. I know that. I'm horrible at updating. I'm in my last semester to get my first degree (just an associates, but I'm doing three different programs) and I'm kinda going insane. On top of that, my mom had a baby almost 3 months ago and is still really, really sick from that so there's a 2 year old and a 2 ½ month old at home, along with my 16 year old sister and life is nuts, so that's why I haven't been updating. **

**Just fyi, if any of you read my other stories, I swear that are not abandoned or even on hiatus, I have just had a massive amount of writer's block and even less time to try and work on it anyway. This chapter I've written during lectures in class, so…yeah. **

**Thanks for sticking with me! **

**Chapter 3**

Lucius stumbled through the Floo and dropped into the chair in front of his desk. He'd been at the Ministry for nearly 15 hours, fighting to get Sirius back from Azkaban, where he was on the order of the Wizengamot, and a trial for him moved up yet again. It was supposed to be this afternoon, but, after checking the docket, they had moved it back. There had been meetings after meetings with the Wizengamot and Heads of different departments, including 3 different trips to Azkaban to meet with the warden and speak with Sirius to get his trial pushed up for the next day.

He summoned the scotch from the far shelf and poured a large shot before throwing it back. He knew he had to be back to the Ministry for the actual trial at 8 a.m. It was 1:30 a.m. now. Lucius sighed and got to work putting Sirius's case together officially. It was going to be a long night.

Narcissa woke up around 6:30, still alone in the large bed in the master bedroom. She sighed and climbed out of bed, wrapping her dressing gown around herself, feet in her slippers as she made her way to the nursery where both toddlers were sleeping for the time being. Draco was sprawled out on his back in the crib with Harry's head on his stomach. Harry was on his side, curled around his stuffed monkey. With a yawn, Narcissa disconnected his nightly feeder (an IV that connected directly into his stomach to give him the nutrients that he wasn't getting from food alone), before picking up the dark haired boy.

She carried him over to the changing table and changed his diaper as he began to wake up. "Good morning, baby boy," she said gently as he finally opened his eyes, rubbing them with a tiny fist. "Did you have a good sleep?"

He nodded and stood as he allowed her to get him dressed for the day, after cleaning the IV site, in a purple long sleeved t-shirt and pair of blue, corduroy overalls.

"Socks?" she asked.

He nodded and sat down to allow her to put them on.

"Good boy," she kissed his cheek. "Should we wake Dragon up now?"

"Yeah," he muttered, thumb once more in his mouth, still holding his monkey by his side by the long tail.

She set him down and went back to the crib to pick Draco up. The blond stirred, but didn't wake up as she laid him on the changing table and changed his diaper. "Come on, little dragon, it's time to wake up," she repeated in a sing-song voice as she dressed him in a similar outfit to Harry with a red shirt and brown corduroy overalls. As he was still just starting to wake up, she didn't give him a choice and slipped a pair of socks on his feet. He finally woke completely up as Narcissa wetted his hair to comb it down.

"No," he whined trying to avoid the comb.

"You must have your hair combed, Dragon, you know this." She finished combing his hair and lifted Harry up next to him on the changing table. She did the same with the raven hair, but it remained sticking straight up in back, even damp. She hummed. "Tricky little one, aren't you?"

She summoned some hair gel from her bedroom and ran her gel covered fingers backwards through his hair making it intentionally stand on end. She played with it a little longer. "There we go." She washed her hands quickly before giving both boys a kiss on the head and setting them on the ground. "Shall we go down to breakfast?"

"Yeah!" that woke Draco up who ran out of the room.

Harry held up a hand and toddled out of the room, holding one of Narcissa's fingers in his own tiny fist. They stopped by Lucius's study where the older blonde was sleeping sitting up, head down on his desk.

"Do you want to go wake Uncle Luc up for breakfast?" Narcissa crouched down and asked him softly.

"Ry go," he muttered around his fist before letting go of her hand and walking over to the sleeping blond. He toddled over to Lucius before squirming his way up to the man's lap.

Lucius jerked awake. "Hello, little one."

"B'e'fas'," he told the man.

"It's time for breakfast, is it?"

Harry nodded. "'Co 'stai's now."

"Well we should join him downstairs then, shouldn't we," Lucius grinned at the boy.

Harry nodded seriously again. "He be wonewy odde'wi'."

Lucius laughed and stood, Harry on his hip. This was the most he'd ever heard the boy say and he was loving it. "Well, we wouldn't want him to be lonely, now would we?"

Harry shook his head in the negative before his fist made his way back to his mouth and he laid his head on the man's broad shoulder.

By the time they got down to the informal dining room, Draco was waiting impatiently, trying to climb up in his high chair and slipping off repeatedly. He huffed and turned to his mother. "Hewp?" he asked pathetically.

Narcissa smiled and lifted him to the chair before pushing it up to the table. "There you are." She strapped his belt across his lap to prevent him falling should he decide to try and dive over the side, as he had many times in the past. A bowl of cooled hot wheat cereal and a second bowl of bite sized mixed berries appeared on the table in front of him along with a spoon. Narcissa took her seat next to him as Lucius strapped Harry into the matching chair across from Draco before sitting next to him. Harry had a similar meal to Draco, only his berries were mashed, Lucius having to help feed him, while Lucius and Narcissa were both eating eggs and toast with their fruit.

It took a while for the four to finish breakfast as Draco was still just learning to feed himself and didn't quite have full control of the spoon yet and Harry took repeated breaks as he was eating to calm him stomach down. By the time they had finished, Severus and Remus had come in.

"Good, you're here. Are you ready, Remus?" Lucius asked the werewolf who would be accompanying him to the trial.

"Yes. It is time that he is returned home."

Lucius picked up a, now, clean faced Harry and passed him to Severus. "Thank you for agreeing to come help. Harry, Aunt Cissy and Uncle Sev are going to stay with you and Draco today, okay? Uncle Remy and I will be home later tonight, hopefully with Uncle Siri," he explained to the younger boy. He had been having high levels of separation anxiety over the last few days and Lucius did not want them to continue.

Reluctantly, Harry allowed himself to be passed to Severus. The dark haired man kissed the side of his head as Lucius kissed Draco and Narcissa goodbye. Remus, as well, kissed both of the toddlers on the head before he and Lucius Flooed to the Ministry for the hearing.

Narcissa sighed. "Well, boys, what do you want to do today?"

"Ou'side?" Draco asked excitedly. It had snowed the night before and a couple inches of clean, white snow blanketed the grounds.

"Do you want to go outside, Harry?" Severus asked as Narcissa went to retrieve the snow clothes.

He shrugged.

"How about if we go out for a little while and whenever you want to come in, we will, okay?"

"M'tay."

It took the next 15 minutes to get both of the toddlers wrapped in their snow suits, coats, hats, scarves, mittens, and boots. Draco waddled out as fast as he could, tugging on a warmly dressed Narcissa with him. Harry stood just at the threshold of the door mittened hand firmly in Severus's gloved hand. "'S cold," he muttered.

"That's what happens in the winter," Severus told him easily, kneeling next to the boy. "We do not have to go outside if you do not want to.

"'Co want," he said softly as if that's all that mattered.

"But if you don't want to we don't have to."

Harry looked back outside then held his free arm up to Severus. "Up?"

He picked up the smaller boy and carried him out into the cold winter air. Draco was running around squealing as he threw snow in the air so it fell on his head. "Do you want to play in the snow?" Severus asked the toddler who, almost immediately, shook his head violently. "Okay, we don't have to play. Do you want to go for a walk to look at the horses? I bet Honey and Baby would like to see you again."

Again Harry shook his head.

Severus couldn't help but compare the toddler in his arms to the outdoor-loving, fun-seeking teenager that he'd known back in school. Even with all his injuries from before, Harry could nearly always be found outside no matter the season when he'd come back. Maybe it was just the change of environment or the death of his parents, but the toddler was much quieter than the teenager had been. Though, his devotion to Draco and the bond's to him was still as unwavering as it had been in his memory.

"Do you want to go in and read your books?"

He shrugged.

"What about a movie?"

Another shrug.

"Do you want to just cuddle?" he asked the little boy who still had his arms firmly around the older man's neck. He didn't spend much time with the boy as a baby due to various circumstances, but he had spent a lot of time with the teenaged version and the older boy definitely had loved curling up next to...well, whoever was next to him.

Harry just nuzzled his cold nose in the crook of Severus's neck.

"Okay, baby, I got you," he muttered to the little boy before walking over to Narcissa. "Cissy, I'm going to take Harry inside. I'm not sure that he's feeling well."

She nodded, arms full of snow that Draco was ordering her to hold. "Alright, we'll be in in a little while."

Severus nodded in acknowledgement and carried the young toddler into the house. He stood the boy on the table and began to remove all of the snow gear that they had just put on the toddler until he was back down to his overalls and socks. Severus carried him into the library and, after pulling a fairy tail book down from the shelf, settled into his favorite leather armchair in front of the fireplace with Harry curled up on his lap. He opened the book to a random story in the middle and began to read.

Severus loved reading to Harry. He rarely interrupted the story and always sat so quietly as he sucked his thumb, his head resting against Severus's chest as he looked at the pictures or, if it wasn't a picture book, followed Severus's finger over the words. Draco was fun to read to as he got into every book that he read, wanting to act it out and add sound effects, but it got tiresome after a little while, especially for Severus who loved the quiet.

It was only about 20 minutes before he fell asleep in the Potion's Master's lap. Severus's brow furrowed. The child had only been awake for about 2 hours. He felt the small forehead. It was a little warm, but not worrisome. He cast a simple diagnostic over Harry. Minor cold still, nothing too major as long as the toddler rested and had his medicine for the next couple days. It was slightly worrisome that he was still sick after the 3 doses of Pepper-Up, but at the same time, he wasn't as strong as most other babies yet. He was still small and undernourished which probably played a big role in why he was still sick.

Severus summoned his current potion's journal and sat still, stroking the small boy's hair as he read.

Narcissa and Draco came in another 2 hours later, Draco now sleepy from the stint outside. "Did you have fun, Dragon?" Severus asked the toddler.

He nodded, but didn't answer verbally as he yawned widely.

Narcissa sat the boy beside Severus on his other side and checked on Harry's temperature. "A little warmer than this morning, but not dangerous. Do you want to wake him for lunch?"

Severus shook his head. "Go ahead and feed Draco. I'll feed Harry when he decides to wake."

"Very well. Be sure to eat for yourself as well."

He nodded and returned to his journal.

Harry continued to sleep through the majority of the day, waking only to eat a couple bites of food and allow Severus or Narcissa to feed him a bottle of warm milk with a nutrient potion mixed in.

When Lucius returned that evening, he looked exhausted. Before Severus could ask (Narcissa was up bathing the boys), he said, "Sirius is free, they had no charges whatsoever, but he has to spend about a week at St. Mungo's, court ordered, to counteract the Dementor's effects. Remus is with him now." He sighed and threw back a shot of whiskey. "Guardianship of Harry has come up once more. The courts ("Dumbledore" Severus countered) have decided that none of us have the rights to guardianship. You, Sirius, and Remus are all young bachelors and Cissy and I can't keep guardianship due to the soul bond."

"What if Sirius and Remus both take custody?"

"Remus is a were, they won't even count him as a partial person, so it's like Sirius on his own, according to the courts."

Severus sighed. "What if I join them? I have a steady job and, as I've nearly got my Mastery, I can provide Remus with wolfsbane every month, minimizing the threat to Harry, though we'd probably bring him over here anyway for a sleepover."

Lucius thought about it. "It should work." He jumped up, suddenly energized. "Give me a bit and I should be able to figure the paperwork, or at least the beginning of it, out."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for reading this! All I ask is that you review! Once more, as with all of my stories, I own nothing that you recognize. **

**Hey! Two updates on my stories in a week! I haven't done that in a long time.**

**Just fyi, if any of you read my other stories, I swear that are not abandoned or even on hiatus, I have just had a massive amount of writer's block and even less time to try and work on it anyway.**

**I don't particularly care for this chapter as much as some of the others, but it is going to be the last chapter that is fully baby!Harry/baby!Draco. There will probably be flashbacks later on, but I'm not very good at writing about little kids. So…yeah. Thanks!**

**Chapter 4**

The next week went by much the same as the first couple days. Lucius was out of the house the majority of the day trying to figure out how they would best be able to get the guardianship of the the Potter heir to work. Severus spent most of his time with Narcissa and the boys, Harry finally having healed but still clinging to the potion's master. Remus was in and out, but spent most of his time with Sirius at the hospital dealing with the legal things that they had to take care of due to his unfair incarceration. Harry and Draco still refused to sleep in separate beds, though they did sleep at opposite ends of the crib for the larger part of the night (Draco did usually end up curled around the smaller boy in the early morning hours).

Now that he was no longer sick, Harry was more willing to go outside and play with Draco, but he still preferred to cuddle and have someone read to him than anything. Severus guessed that it had to do with how he was treated even those few days he was with the Dursleys. He was a bright toddler and was most likely afraid that he would be sent or locked away if he did something wrong. There was also the chance that he wanted to cling to the familiar, knowing that his parents weren't coming back. And, in this house, Severus was the closest thing to a familiar face that he had as he spent a lot of time at the Potter's, even after they went into hiding, taking care of all of the baby's potion's needs as Lily didn't trust anyone else with her baby's health.

Finally, Sirius was released from the hospital with an all clear both to live where he wished and to return to work (his place as an Auror Trainee had been held in limbo before his trial then reinstated once he was cleared). The adults and two toddlers congregated in the sitting room, the boys playing on the floor as the adults figured out the best schedule for all of them.

"Okay, so Severus, Remus and I will live at Hogwarts?" Sirius double checked

"Correct, the Board of Governors has given Remus employment as a tutor for the students during their free hours," Lucius explained, reaffirming what all of them already knew. "Sirius will still be able to work at the Ministry. Severus will teach in place of Slughorn. Twice a week, Draco will come to the school and the boys will have lessons with Remus."

"Twice a week Harry will come to the Manor for lessons with me," Narcissa interrupted, excited for the lessons that she was going to have with the toddlers. Mostly it would be play time to begin with, but as they got older she would add more and more to the agenda.

"Andy said that the boys have to spend a lot of time together still, so are we going to do sleepovers every week to take care of that time together? It is the best way to deal with the new bond," Severus tried to clarify.

"That would make the most sense. It is important that neither go too long without the other at this stage in their bond, but we can probably taper off on the sleepovers as they get older, though it is currently a good way for us to get adult time. All of us, that is, especially if we start with 2 sleepovers per week," Narcissa added. She loved the boys, but sometimes it was nice to have time for just being an adult without worrying about diapers and all the things that came with the toddlers.

"Why does it feel like this is going too smoothly?" Sirius questioned.

"Because, if the boys were right about what happened before in the future, they deserve the calm now. The fates can only throw so much at them."

"This is their chance to live the lives they should have had before, and it's up to us that they get that chance as much as possible," Remus agreed with Lucius.

"Alright then," Severus stood. "Harry, are you ready to go home, little one?" he asked the smaller toddler.

"Home?" Harry asked in a small voice. Though he was capable of speaking, he still choose not to speak, more often than not using gestures to show what he wanted or needed.

"Remember, you are moving with me and Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony to the castle. Draco will come visit us and we will come and visit him often."

"Oh." He looked at Draco. "Dwagon?"

"My 'Ry?"

"Yes, you will still be able to be friends and stay close to each other, but you won't be sharing a room anymore."

"Why?"

"Because you are big boys now and get to sleep in your own beds."

"Oh. Otay," Draco agreed as Harry nodded and held his arms up to Severus to be carried. Before Severus could pick him up though, Draco wrapped pudgy arms around his mate. "Bye bye, my 'Ry."

Harry hugged the blond back then, still without words, held his hands up to Severus once more.

Severus scooped him up and rested the toddler on his hip. "We should go to get his room set up before bedtime. See you in a couple days," Sirius spoke, standing with the other two single men.

"Take care," Narcissa said, also standing to kiss Harry's forehead. "Be good for your godfathers," she told the boy.

He nodded and stuck his thumb in his mouth. Severus wrapped the blanket around Harry's back as the toddler hid his face against the older man before stepping into the Floo and heading to Hogwarts.

Severus stepped out gracefully. "Professor McGonagall," he nodded, bowing slightly to the Deputy Headmistress.

"None of that, now, Severus. We are collegues now." She kissed his cheek. "Horace and I looked over your lesson plans last night and they were approved, you will be all set to begin classes tomorrow morning. Horace will stay in the castle for another month if you need any help with your classes." The Floo flared again and Remus came through with Sirius shortly after, both of them landing on the floor in a tangle as Sirius hadn't waited long enough. "Welcome back, Sirius, Remus."

"Hey, Minnie," Sirius said, still on his back.

She glared, but didn't say anything further about that. She turned back to Severus. "The house elves have set up each of you with a bedroom, currently Harry's nursery is connected to your room per Narcissa's request. Is that alright or would you prefer them separate?"

"Connected is just fine."

"Then I shall show you to your quarters and give you time to settle." They began walking toward the ground level from her 4th floor office. "Due to an explosion at the end of last year, the Potion's Classroom has been moved to the dungeons. There is an office connected if you wish to use it or we can set one up on ground level for you."

"I would prefer to have one closer to our quarters in case Harry should need anything."

"I will prepare the House Elves. Whenever you are ready, just call for Skinny, he will be able to assist you in setting it up." She glanced at Remus. "We have one of the anti-chambers of the Great Hall set up as the tutoring center if that is acceptable."

"Sounds perfect," he nodded.

"Well, I shall leave you here. You may set your password to be whatever you desire." She indicated the portrait of a savanna landscape with gazelles and giraffes and elephants and other animals moving in and out of view. "If you need anything, just ask Skinny and he will be able to assist you." She allowed a smile to cross her face. "It's good to have you back boys, I'm sure you'll do wonderfully."

"T'ank you," Harry muttered to the witch.

"You are most welcome, bairn." She nodded to them and left the boys alone.

"Dwagon," Harry told the portrait and it opened.

Sirius barked out a laugh. "I guess the new password is Dragon."

Remus smiled. "The castle is partial to children and, as the youngest, Harry is going to be the favorite of the castle for a while." He held open the portrait and allowed the others to all enter before him.

They walked into an open living area. There was a small kitchenette off to the left with a bar type set up instead of a table that doubled as a work space when they decided to cook, a small 2 burner stove and oven, a toaster, and a double sink. A cool cupboard was beside the sink and other cupboards were along the exterior wall, labels on the outside, removable, but telling what was in each of the cupboards. The floor in the kitchen area was a dark gray stone, smooth for so as not to hurt the toddler if he fell, all edges were rounded to avoid injuries. The counters were also granite, but the wood was all painted white to give it a brighter feel in the room.

The living area on the right had a cream colored carpet covering the floor with a combination of blue and brown furnishings. There were two brown leather arm chairs, but the couch between was a dark blue soft fabric that would be more comfortable for the toddler. The walls were covered with book shelves, save for a small amount of space around the large fireplace (which Severus made a mental note to ward to protect Harry) and a space around a hallway just to the left of the end of the kitchen counter.

The quartet wandered down the hall after approving the colors and layout of the living room. The hallway was also carpeted in the same cream color as the living room and led to several different doors. The first door on the right was a linen closet. The first on the left was a bathroom with a large shower and an above ground tub with a sink out in the open and a toilet in a room just off to the side of the room. Next down the hall were Sirius and Remus's rooms, with Remus on the right and Sirius on the left. Just past Sirius's room, there was a door to a large study with 3 desks that the older men would share.

At the end of the hall, there were two doors. Harry's nursery was at the very end and was the biggest bedroom they'd seen yet. Half the room was dedicated to the majority of the furniture, while the other half of the room (the side closest to the study) was set up as a play area with all of his toys and a large, padded rocking chair next to a bookcase filled with books. Instead of a crib, as he had slept in before, it there was an expandable toddler bed with railing on either side so he wouldn't fall off. On the bedroom side, a door led to the same room as the last door in the hall, which was Severus's room.

Each of the rooms for the three men were fairly bare and they only knew it was their room based on the name plaques outside the doors. Harry's room was decorated in large murals on all of the walls of a forest setting with dark green carpet covering the room and the sky charmed to look like the sky on a clear day (though it would darken as night fell until it looked like the night sky).

Sirius looked over at Harry, knowing he had loved to play in the trees at Potter Manor before they went into hiding. "Do you like your room, Harry?"

A bright smile was all he got, but it was enough to tell them men that he would enjoy it.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for reading this! All I ask is that you review! Once more, as with all of my stories, I own nothing that you recognize. **

**Just fyi, if any of you read my other stories, I swear that are not abandoned or even on hiatus, I have just had a massive amount of writer's block and even less time to try and work on it anyway.**

**Chapter 5**

Harry groaned and rolled over, pulling the blankets over his head. "5 more minutes."

"I guess you don't want your letter then," Severus said with a small smirk and left the room.

Harry mumbled in the affirmative, still trying to bury deeper into his covers. After a minute, he froze. "Letter?" he muttered to himself. "Letter!" He shot out of bed and, without bothering with his robe or slippers, dashed out of his bedroom and into the living room. He jumped over the back of the couch and dropped half onto Severus's lap. "My letter came!"

"Oomph," Severus grunted as a sharp elbow landed hard into his abdomen. "Yes, brat, your letter is here and is on the table."

Harry whooped and scrambled up, hurrying to the table to see his Hogwarts Letter.

Mr. H.J. Potter

Bedroom at the end of the Hall

Dragon Quarters

Hogwarts Dungeons

Scotland

He held it reverently for a moment before tearing through the wax seal on the back. He hurriedly read through his letter.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall,_

_Deputy Headmistress_

He whooped again. "I got in! I got in! I got in!" He cheered, dancing around the table in his blue boxer shorts and white t-shirt.

"Like there was any doubt. You've been causing mischief since birth with your magic," Severus drawled from behind his newspaper.

Harry gasped. "I've gotta tell Siri and Rem!" He dropped the letter onto the table and dashed back down the hall. He flung open the door to Sirius's room and threw himself onto the bed. Sirius grunted and rolled over to pin Harry beneath him.

"What are you doing, baby?" Sirius asked, his voice rough from sleep.

"Paddy, my letter came!" he said excitedly, practically vibrating with energy.

"What letter?" Sirius asked, playing ignorant.

"My Hogwarts letter!"

"What is this, Hogwarts?"

"Siri!" Harry giggled. "We live at Hogwarts!"

"Oh! So that's what this place is," he mused playfully.

Harry giggled again. "Get up! I want to go shopping!" He squirmed his way back out from underneath his godfather. "I gotta tell Rem!" He started toward the door. "Come on, Siri!" He entered the room across the hall and, rather than jumping on the bed, he slipped under the covers and cuddled up next to the werewolf. The full moon had only been 2 days before and he knew that Remus was still tired and sore from the transformation. "Remy, guess what?" he whispered, knowing it would wake the wolf up.

The strong arms around him tightened. "What, cub?"

"I got my Hogwarts letter!" he whispered excitedly, cuddling closer to the older man.

"Congratulations, cub. Were you in any doubt that you wouldn't get it?"

"Well, no, but it's here! I get to start classes for real in September!"

Remus hummed. "Have you told Draco?"

"Oops, not yet." He crawled out of bed.

"You may want to get dressed first. Check with Sev, but, if he is okay with it, we can go do your school shopping this afternoon."

"Okay!" he leaned over the side of the bed and kissed Remus on the cheek. "Sleep well."

He quietly left the room, closing the door behind him, before running into the living room. "Sev, can I call Draco?"

"After break-" he was cut off as the Floo sounded. "Go see who it is."

"Draco!" he cheered as he entered the Floo room. "I got my letter!" was all Severus heard before the door closed behind the boy.

He shook his head at his godsons' actions but returned to his paper. He only read another story before he heard his name being called. He sighed and walked to the Floo room. "Yes?"

"Can we go to Diagon today for school shopping?" Harry asked.

"Father already agreed if you guys did," Draco's head added from the fireplace.

"I believe that would be acceptable. Draco, ask your father if 2 p.m. is alright."

"It is. He said sometime between 1 and 4 to start."

"Then we shall meet you at The Leaky at 2 p.m." He looked at Harry. "Wrap up the conversation, you have not yet had breakfast."

"Yes, Sev." He turned back to the grate as Severus left the room.

It was another twenty minutes, as predicted, before Harry came out. By that time, the house elves had laid the table with a large breakfast spread. Sirius was awake and sipping on his coffee in his seat, reading the portions of the paper that Severus was already finished with, the Potion's Master sitting across from him working on the other parts of the paper. Remus was not yet at the table, but Harry could hear the shower running down the hall.

The raven haired boy climbed up onto his chair and, as he had always done, sat on his knees at the high table as he reached to fill his plate. Severus, without bothering to look over at him, scoot his legs so he was sitting on his bottom as was proper at the table. Harry pouted, but the chair raised so he was sitting comfortably.

The youngest boy chatted excitedly throughout breakfast, not minding that the others only chimed in rarely. When they were all done eating, Harry carried the dishes over to the sink (where the elves could collect them easier) and bounced his way back to the table where, like every other morning, he would get his requirements for the day.

From the beginning, Severus had taken on the role of authoritarian early on in their household. In a way, he had taken the role of parent while Sirius and Remus were more like the favorite uncles that lived with them. Severus looked at the excited boy standing in front of him and knew that it would be nearly useless to try and get him to study today. "For quill practice today, I want you to write in your journal for 30 minutes as neatly as you can. You also need to shower and pick up your bedroom before lunch. You can ask Sirius if he will take you out flying if you finish all of that and still have time to spare, otherwise you'll need to remain firmly on the ground if you go outside."

He nodded. "Okay, Sev. Anything else?"

"Not for today. When we go to Diagon, if you wish to bring some of your allowance money, you may do so. Outside of your required items, we shall discuss if you want anything else."

"Okay. May I go now?"

"You may," Severus acknowledged.

Harry hugged him tight before hugging the other two men and bouncing off to his room to pick up and get ready for the day.

Finally, it was time for them to Floo to Diagon Alley. By the time Severus and Remus (Sirius had to go in to work, though he would be meeting them for dinner that evening in Muggle London) had arrived in the Floo room, Harry was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. "Come here, brat," Severus ordered the boy who came over and, with a slight jump, was clinging to Severus's back. He had yet to learn to Floo on his own, and the men were hesitant to allow him to do so. Like riding without a car seat or booster seat for Muggles, it was recommended that children do not Floo on their own before 10 or 4' 10". Though he would be 11 in only a couple weeks, he was only 4' 5" tall still. He wasn't extremely short, but was slightly shorter than most of the boys he knew his age, due to a lot of illnesses when he was younger and the fact that, it seemed, he inherited his mother's smaller stature than the tall, broad stature of his father. They had figured out early on that, if he was facing forward in the Floo he did not get nearly as dizzy as when he was facing the opposite direction, unable to see the grates flying by, so, since about the age of 4, he had always Flooed on one of his guardian's backs.

A few minutes later, they had all entered The Leaky Cauldron where Harry dropped from Severus's back and, about to run forward, had his hand grabbed by Remus. "Calm down, wildcat. It's crowded today and you know you need to stay within our line of sight at all times."

"Sorry, Rem," Harry said contritely, even as he searched around the room for the familiar head of blond hair that belonged to his best friend. "Can you see Draco yet?"

"It is not yet 2, child, relax."

Harry huffed but allowed Remus to lead him over to a table. He ignored the stares he was getting from many of the people around him. He didn't like it, but he was used to it. He was just glad they weren't all over him as they had been a lot when he was younger and they'd first started going on, but, now, a lot of the patrons were former Hogwarts students or their parents and he was no longer an anomaly to them, having been in study hall with them so often as a young child. He just hoped that the kids in his class weren't all weird around him.

Though, even if they were, he knew he would be able to count on Draco, even if he had nobody else. He didn't know why, but he and Draco had been really close ever since they were younger. He couldn't remember a time when he and Draco hadn't done nearly everything together from school to playtime to holidays.

The Floo flared again and Harry sat up excitedly. A familiar blond head was all he could see over the crowd. "Uncle Luc!" he cheered, knowing Draco wasn't far behind and it gave away their position so they could find them earlier.

The older Malfoy looked over at them and, with a smile, began to make his way over, Draco in front of him.

As soon as they were near enough, Harry jumped off his chair and ran to meet with Draco, talking a million miles an hour. The other boy continued to speak quickly back as they hugged. Finally, they turned and looked at the adults. "Well?"

"Well, what?" Lucius asked, feigning confusing.

"Can we go shopping?" Draco asked as if there were no other answer. It was what the boys had been talking about, but, in their exuberance, none of the adults could understand much of what they said with their half-finished sentences and talking over each other.

"I believe that would be acceptable...after a drink of course."

"Dad!" Draco whined as Harry whined "Uncle Luc!" at the same time.

The three men laughed and stood. "Alright, alright, the drink can wait."

The boys whooped and head toward the exit, careful to keep looking back to make sure the adults were following even as they chatted excitedly once more about everything that they were going to look at and get.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry about the delay guys, but the good news is, here's an update! And the next one should be coming soon as I'm already half way done with writing that one. Here is the first half of their Diagon Alley shopping trip. I wasn't going to split it into two, but I had fun with it. Yes, compared to the series, they will be OOC, but, hopefully not too far out. Harry has grown up with Remus and Severus so, in my mind, he is much more studious than he was in canon. And Draco, who has had more of an influence from Gryffindors (Remus and Sirius) will be much more daring than in canon. Anyway, thanks for reading! **

**Chapter 6**

"Do we need to go to the bank first?" Harry asked Severus as they waited impatiently for Remus to open the gateway to the Alley.

"Not this time. I stopped last week on my way back from the apothecary. Do you need to go to the bank, Lucius?" he asked his longtime friend.

"No. Narcissa stopped a couple days ago when she came into town."

Both boys moaned. "But I wanted to ride in the carts!" Draco said aloud as Harry agreed with him.

"Maybe next time," Remus said, ushering them on to the robe shop, wanting to get the least favorite thing out of the way at the beginning. He, and most of the other adults in their unusual little family, could not understand the boys' fascination with flying through the tunnels of Gringotts in the wild carts. If it weren't for the safety charms that the Goblins had on them, he was sure that the boys would have fallen out several times by now with their fascination at looking over the sides to try and see the floor, and anything else that may be hidden down there, as it sped by.

As they walked down the cobblestone streets, he distinctly remembered a time when they had been about 4 or 5 years old. It was a summer and, for whatever reason, he was the only one available to watch them. Normally, it wasn't an issue, but he had needed to come into town to go to Gringotts on some personal business. They had talked him into letting them go down to the vaults with him (he would have left them upstairs with one of the Gringotts' employees tasked with watching the kids of the adults who were going down). As with any other trip they went on, the two were holding hands so they didn't get separated, even in the little metal cart. Harry had, surprisingly as he was typically the quieter of the two, been the one to ask the Goblin if they could go faster. When the Goblin replied that the carts only had one speed, Draco and Harry both pouted until, with a flash of light, they were suddenly rocketing down the tracks as the combined magic of the toddlers overrode the magic of the Goblins and caused the cart to go much faster than was safe (even if he hadn't seen and felt the cart nearly jumping off the track he would have known that this was the case). To this day, he wasn't sure how they managed to get the cart to stop and then get back to the surface safely.

"Remy, come on!" he broke out of his thoughts as Draco called his name from the doorway of the robe shop.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he grinned at the excited boy before heading into the shop as well. Just as the door closed behind him, Draco jumped up on the other stool next to Harry as two of the assistants began to take their measurements for their school robes.

"So, what house do you think you'll be in?" the red-headed assistant who was measuring Draco asked the boys.

"I don't know. My family has all been in Slytherin, but his has all been in Gryffindor and we'll definitely be together."

"I hear friends say that all the time. What happens if you don't get sorted together."

Harry and Draco both looked at her confused. "We will be together," Harry said as if talking to a young child. "There's no way we won't be together."

Remus glanced over at Severus and Lucius who both had the same look he was sure he was sporting. They all knew they needed to tell the boys of their bond soon, but it was _how_ to tell them that they couldn't agree on. Even still, there was no guarantee they would be put in the same house, and the nights they needed to be close, they could always just stay with himself, Sirius, and Severus in their quarters. He was shaken from his thoughts as the assistant spoke again.

"Well, then where do you want to be sorted?"

The boys looked at each other silently for a few moments. "Ravenclaw," they finally said in unison.

"Oh, really, why there?"

"Well, being who he is, we can't go in Slytherin."

"And being who he is, Gryffindor is also a bad idea."

"And, while we both like the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaw would be more of a challenge," the finished together.

Severus shuddered nearly imperceptibly at the reminder of the Weasley Twins. If for no other reason, he really hoped the Harry and Draco were not sorted into Gryffindor because they could cause some high levels of havoc on their own, let alone in an alliance with the Weasley Twins. For that reason alone, he hoped they were in Ravenclaw. Though, he had a feeling they would be the cause of high levels of havoc in there as well and he could only pray that Flitwick knew how to handle them. Or Sprout. There was a chance that they would be sorted into Hufflepuff. He didn't have any worries about Minerva. She handled the Marauders and the Weasley Twins. She could handle the boys. Unless they started crying to get out of something...He sighed internally. He really hoped they were sorted into Slytherin. Then he could deal with them as usual. But then he'd have to deal with them. He shuddered again. There was really no way to win if they were sorted in the same house.

"And why are you so sure you will be sorted together?" the assistant fitting Harry asked.

"We do everything together. We have since, like, forever," Harry answered softly smiling over at Draco.

Draco grinned back and stepped down as told by the person fitting him. "Yeah, I mean, like 99.9% of my memories have him in them. And that's taking into account the random odd dream where I wake up more confused than anything." Harry's assistant cleared him to step down and Draco tugged him down into a tight hug with Harry's back to his chest. "Besides, he's mine because I said so."

Harry just rolled his eyes with a small laugh. Draco had done this forever and, though he felt the same way about the blond, he didn't feel the need to advertise it like the Malfoy-heir did. He nuzzled his head back into Draco's cheek. "Come on, Dray, you've got to let go so we can go get our books and potion's stuff and wands."

Draco gave him a quick squeeze as he sent a glare at the assistant who dared question them before sliding his grip around to Harry's hand and leading the way out of the shop.

Severus sighed. "You too finish up here, I'll go help the boy's at the apothecary." They were used to the boy's rushing off to do whatever it was that they wished without thought. Despite all of them trying to train the impulsiveness a little bit, they were both very headstrong, strong-willed individuals, even more so when they were together as neither was able to tell the other no, especially when they both thought it was a good idea.

Severus hurried down the road to the apothecary where they had been planning on going next, though there was no real telling if that was where they had gone. The bell above the door rang as he entered the apothecary. Draco and Harry were standing on one side of the counter with the sale's assistant on the other. Draco was glaring while Harry argued with the man (surprising as it was typically the other way around).

"No," Harry said firmly. "That is not an acceptable kit. I've been brewing since before I can even remember and I know that those dried nettles are at least 2 weeks past when they should have been used. The bubotuber pus should be more of a mustard yellow than that ridiculous daffodil yellow. The porcupine quills should be a centimeter longer else, no matter when you put them in the Boil Cure, the first potion first-years brew at Hogwarts, they will explode, even if it is not on the heat. And don't even get me started on the poor state of the Valerian Sprigs."

Severus grinned and, carefully, walked over to the boy's leaning over Harry slightly to look into the kit. "I'm disappointed, Mr. Potter, I was sure the snake fangs would have taken greater precedence over the Valerian Sprigs, as poor as they are."

"They weren't even worth notice they are so awful, Sev. The others at least can have a redeeming quality for other potions. The snake fangs in this kit are worth nothing more than the garbage, or perhaps as a joke item."

"What about if you crushed them?" Severus asked the boy's curious to see what they would answer.

Draco was the one who answered. "No, if you look at the top, all of the venom veins have been removed. This is nothing more than a calcium deposit, not even fit for a calcium supplement as, judging by the grayish color, most of the nutrient has been sucked out of it in some way."

"The boys are correct," Severus addressed the assistant. "What is your name?"

"I do not see how that is of any relevance."

"Then I demand to speak to Master Jiggers."

"And who are you to demand that audience?" the shop assistant asked imperiously.

Severus leveled a glare at him, but did not answer as the door to the back room opened and an old man appeared. With a cheerful lilt of his voice he said, "Ah, Severus! How are you, my boy?"

"I am doing well, Master Jiggers. I would be doing better if your shop assistant would cease in his efforts to sell faulty ingredients to my ward and godson."

The jovial old man's eyes narrowed and he stepped forward to look into the kit. "Mr. Kent, I suggest you start explaining yourself. Immediately."

"I...I..." the boy stuttered, but didn't say anything in his defense.

"I believe I asked you to throw those ingredients out, not make them into kits for unsuspecting Hogwarts students. You have 30 seconds to grab your things from the back room and get out. Do not come back." He looked up at Severus. "I apologize for the insult the idiot who used to work for me gave to you and yours. Both their kits are on the house. I can put a couple together for you if you would like, or you can find the ingredients and put them together if you wish."

"We will put them together and we shall pay for them. I'm just glad that Harry and Draco were able to notice the ingredients were off before buying them. The only thing I request is that you look into who has already bought a kit and give them a new one, especially for my first years."

"I shall do so, Severus."

Severus put the gold on the counter. "It was good doing business with you, Master Jiggers."

"You as well Severus. I shall have your shipment of fresh ingredients in early next week. They are projecting Tuesday morning."

"I shall be in Tuesday afternoon then." He said with a nod before leading the boys over to the shelves to gather their ingredients for the semester (he would bring them again at Christmas to get fresh ingredients as, even with stasis spells, some ingredients were much better when fresh).

Just as they were leaving the apothecary, they met up with Lucius and Remus. "We got a guy fired!" Draco said excitedly as soon as they were within range.

"It was his own fault, the dunderhead," Harry grumbled at his side. "Really, if anyone fell for his ruse, they are stupid, too."

Severus brushed a hand through Harry's hair and pulled him back slightly to lean against him. "If it weren't for these two monsters," Severus said, messing up Draco's coiffed locks as well, "noticing that the shop assistant was trying to sell them faulty ingredients, my class could have been a complete disaster this year. As it is, I am still going to be forced to check all of the students' ingredients before they begin brewing."

"I guess all those potions lessons paid off then, right boys?" Remus said with a grin, having heard them complain of how many lessons they had had often enough, though he knew that both of the eleven-year-olds really did enjoy the time they spent with Severus in the lab, despite their protestations otherwise.

"Where to next?" Lucius asked, trying to defuse the situation, knowing one of them, probably Draco, was about to say a cheeky comment back and more than likely earn a punishment of some kind.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: 2 updates in a week! Go me! Anyway, again, the characters are going to be slightly different from canon. Also, Harry is a bit smaller than Draco due to illnesses as a baby. He will always be a little smaller than Draco, but he is not as small as he was in BttP. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing (if you so choose)!**

**Chapter 7 **

"The book store," Harry said as Draco said, "Ice cream." They looked at each other for a moment. "The menagerie," they chimed in unison.

All three of the men laughed. "The menagerie is last. We can't be taking your newly acquired familiars into the other shops," Remus reminded them.

"Let's go to the book store then we can take a break for ice cream," Severus appeased the two who took off toward the crowded bookstore across the way.

"Merlin help us," Lucius said under his breath as the followed the youngsters into the store. Nearly every adult that was a constant in their lives (except for Sirius) loved reading, but the two of them put even Severus, the biggest book worm out of all of them, to shame with their love of reading new books, especially when they could remember much of what they did read (even if it wasn't always perfectly quoted, it did fit their situation and often worked to get them what they wanted).

By the time they caught up with the young wizards (who were standing back to back, touching so they knew for sure where the other was in the crowded shop, in the tiny aisle, Harry looking at the defense books, Draco looking at the transfiguration books), they each had a stack of several books at their side.

Severus bent down and picked Harry's stack up. "We already have this book," he informed the boy, reading the defense cover.

"No, Remy has the book. I want a copy of my own. He says I'm not allowed to write in his."

Severus sighed and put it back in the pile, looking through the other books and giving one to Remus for a second opinion before he allowed his 11-year-old ward to buy it.

"_Most Potente Potions?'_" Lucius picked one from the top of Draco's pile. "Not a chance. If, for some far reaching reason, you do need a copy of this book, you may borrow Severus's until you are of age." A flick of his wrist sent it back to where it belonged on the shelves half a row over.

"You will have no need of that book until after you have finished at least your O.W.L.s," Severus told Draco, his tone slightly scolding. He flicked through another of Harry's books. "Explain to me why you have need for _Understanding the Dark_?"

Harry shrugged. "It looked interesting," he muttered, his nose already buried in another book even as he set another in the pile next to him.

Remus took it this time and sent it flying back to the shelf. "While it may look interesting, it is well above your age level. It is another that we own and, if you have good enough reason, you may be allowed to borrow it after your O.W.L.s, but not before."

"And I cannot foresee you needing to borrow it until at least your N.E.W.T.s," Severus added.

Lucius sighed. "Alright, both of you, put what you are reading down and pay attention."

After a moment, a pair of emerald eyes and a pair of silver eyes turned to the aristocrat.

"Other than your school books, you are each limited to 8 others."

"Each of those 8 must be approved by one of us," Severus added. "We will be waiting at the reading table by the second floor window when you decide to come up."

"Anything over a 5th year level will automatically be disapproved. You have 45 minutes," Remus finished, knowing that without a time limit, they would spend all day in the bookstore and not even notice time passing until they got hungry, and the three men head up to the second floor. The books up here were mainly for masters in their field and/or their apprentices and it was considerably less crowded than the lower level, especially in the month before the start of Hogwarts.

"So, what really happened at the Apothecary?" Lucius asked Severus, knowing they didn't get the full story outside.

"It was as I said. The shop assistant had been trying to sell expired ingredients to the boys. Judging by the amount of first years running around the last few days and the fact that there were kits still stacked high in the back room, from what I could see when Master Jiggers came out, I am assuming he had been pocketing the money. Master Jiggers informed me last time that he was sure the assistant was up to no good, but, until today, couldn't prove anything, so the boy got fired."

"But why to first years?" Remus asked. He knew that many adults, who would buy more ingredients than first years, wouldn't be able to tell if the ingredients were faulty, especially if they were only slightly off, and, only because Harry and Draco had been trained from such a young age could they tell.

"Most wouldn't know the difference. And, I suspect by the way he handled Harry's defiance, that he doesn't like children very much and thought it would be amusing. I am not certain and I do not particularly care for his reasoning as long as I do not have to deal with exploding cauldrons due to his greed."

The three men continued to talk in silence until the 11-year-olds finally stumbled up the stairs arms laden with more books than they could carry and still see where they were going. Draco was the first to set his stack on the table. "Do reference books count as school books even if they aren't on the list or do they count in the 8?" he asked as Remus helped Harry catch his stack of books before it tipped over off the table and onto the floor.

"Part of the 8. Between the library and the collection in the Den, you should have more than enough access to all the reference books that you need," Severus said sternly.

"Oh, one sec," Draco said before they quickly ran back down the stairs and emerged a few minutes later with another stack of books, this one more manageable as, though combined it was likely the same size as their first two, they had split it between them. "Hold on."

"Hand me the..." Harry started when Draco passed him a book. "Thanks." He traded it out with one in the stack Draco had originally brought up, setting the other aside for it to be put back in its place later. "And the..."

"Creatures?"

"Yeah." He took the two books that Draco handed him and passed them to Lucius, "Hold this please."

Their non-communication went on for another 10 minutes before they each passed a stack of books 5 high (the extra went in the middle of the table) to each of the 3 men. While the adults looked through their stacks to ensure the reading material was all appropriate, they separated the other books into two piles: definitely rejected and back up. Harry took the rejected books down to the main level and stuck them on the shelving cart before turning to return upstairs. Instead, he crashed into, what appeared to be, a walking stack of books. When he fell and the books fell around him, he noticed they were being carried by a rather bushy-haired girl.

"Sorry," she began to apologize immediately. "I wasn't watching where I was going. Mum is always telling me that it would get me in trouble one day and, I guess, today it did."

Harry shrugged. "I wasn't really watching either. I take it you like to read."

"Very much so! I'm so excited to be starting at Hogwarts in September. It's the best magic school in Britain and one of the top schools for all of Europe."

"I know," Harry interrupted what was sure to be a tirade if he let her continue. "I've lived there for the last 9 years." He looked at one of the books in her hand. "_Rise and Fall of the Dark Lord?_What do you have need of this for?"

"I find it best to always be prepared for everything possible. It wouldn't, after all, do to enter a new society and know nothing of it."

"Ah, a muggle born. Well, this book is just useless trash, as is everything in that stack by Lockhart, so don't even bother to buy it. Stick with the authors on the reading list or any that they reference in the back of their books." He stood up after stacking the books and began to walk away. "Oh, and do try to remember that history is always written by the victor. Not everything is as black and white as the books make it out to be." With the last parting comment, Harry hurried back upstairs where Draco was arguing with Lucius over one of their choices.

"It's a transfiguration book! It shows the wand movements and the pronunciation guides for the majority of the spells that we will be learning."

"So the fact that it has an entire section devoted to becoming animagi had nothing to do with your choice."

"It would be cool, but we know we're not allowed to do anything about it until after our O.W.L.s, if we get Os on them, and only if we are working with Sirius. We know this!"

Severus cut in. "You both do a lot of things that are contrary to your knowledge. Why should this be any different?"

"What if you bind the animagi section until after our O.W.L.s? That way we still have access to the rest of the book, but we can't work on it without supervision?" Harry offered as a compromise. He and Draco had wondered if their parents were going to catch that section of the book and had definitely hoped the didn't, but, at the same time, the rest of the book would be useful and had a bunch of really good spells that they wouldn't learn unless they found them in obscure books in the library anyway, so it was worth it to buy it either way.

"And you will swear to not undo the binding, nor have anyone else find any way to circumvent the binding, until we deem it appropriate?"

Harry and Draco shared a look. "We swear," they said in unison.

"Then you may get it. The rest have been approved. Severus will take them down to pay. The rest of us will go over to the supply store for your parchment, quills and other supplies," Lucius said.

The shops as well as the luggage store were met with very little trouble, as long as you ignore the argument the boys put up over their wanting a seven compartment trunk with blood wards put on the trunk so only they would be able to open it (eventually, they settled for a two compartment trunk for each of them with privacy wards that open to both a key and a password, on the condition that their parents/guardians have access to a copy of the key and know the password). They made a few other minor stops, such as to get their telescopes and scales and such, but, finally, they only had one stop to go. Ollivanders.

Severus picked Harry up and slung him over his shoulder so he was riding on his back as to , hopefully, prevent much more damaged from the bouncing, excited boy. Lucius was carrying Draco in a similar manner as he was just as excited, if not even more so to get his wand. When they entered the dimly lit shop, both boys slipped down and, almost unthinkingly, locked hands with each other.

"Do you feel that?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded. "It's buzzing. No, humming. The whole shop is humming."

"Very good, Mr. Potter. You as well, Mr. Malfoy. It is the magic in the wands around you that causes it. Few can feel it, even fewer as strongly as a humming. Now, wands. Who wants to go first?"

"Draco's older. He can go first." Harry said as he moved to take a seat on Severus' lap as he sat on a conjured chair under the window.

It took nearly an hour and a half before they were leaving the shop. Both boys were looking at their wands in their wrist holders. Draco sighed. "Ash and Dragon heartstrings, 10 ½ inches. Isn't it lovely."

"Yeah," Harry sighed brushing his finger over his. "Ebony and Phoenix Feather, 10 ½ inches. I love the color. It's like Sev's."

"Can I see yours?" they asked each other at the same time. With a grin, they took their wands out and switched them. The wands lit up with silver and gold sparks as they had in the store as soon as the other was holding them. "Is this supposed to happen?" Draco asked his dad as they stared captivated by the lights.

"Give each other their wand back, put it away and we will have this discussion at home," Lucius said. "Grab on to someone, we'll Apparate." The group disappeared with a loud crack.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Yay! Finally an update! Sorry for the long wait, I had meant to get this up a couple weeks ago, but then I got a sinus infection, then I gashed my leg open at work and had to get stitches so I've mostly just been exhausted and slept every time I had a chance to work on, well, anything. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to come as the boys will be on their way to Hogwarts! **

**Again, I own nothing you recognize. Thanks!**

**Chapter 8**

When they got home from Diagon, they immediately took spots in the comfortable, family living room. Remus excused himself to call Narcissa and Sirius home because they should really all be there for this explanation. Draco and Harry both dragged Severus and Lucius to the loveseat under the window where, after the adults were sitting, the boys climbed onto their laps. Harry was sitting more on Severus's left leg with Draco on Lucius's right so they were up against each other in the middle, hands linked. Whatever the information they received, they knew they would need each other more than ever based on their parents' reactions.

Harry leaned his head on Draco's shoulder as they waited, nervous about what they were going to be told.

Sirius showed up first, but Narcissa and Remus walked in together not 2 minutes after.

"What's going on?" Draco asked finally just after Harry nudged him with his shoulder, indicating he should be the one to speak.

"I'm going to start with a story," Remus said somewhat awkwardly. "Once the story is over, if you have any questions, you will be able to ask them."

"Okay," they boys said together as they wiggled a little on the laps to get more comfortable.

"Near the beginning of our 7th year at Hogwarts," he indicated all of the adults around the room, "there was a flash of light one morning during breakfast and two boys appeared out of it. The smaller of the two was severely injured and was being assisted by the taller. These boys were from the future. Once in the Headmaster's office, they told us a bit of the future and it was a very scary place. In this future, the world was divided among the Dark and the Light so extensively that schoolchildren had had to fight in a war between the two. Now, what was so special about these boys, among many other things, was that they were soul mates. They were sanctioned by magic to be the perfect companion for the other for all of their lives. It was even more unusual at this time because one was from a very, very Dark family and the other from an equally Light family, something that caused a lot of grief for the boys among those who wished to do them harm. These boys were also exceedingly intelligent and, though only teenagers themselves became our Defense against the Dark Arts teachers. They were so different and yet, everything they did complimented the other. Do you know who I am talking about?"

"It's us, isn't it," Draco said softly as Harry tightened his grip around the blond's hand.

"Yes," Narcissa answered. "But this future is very, very different from the one that you both had lived previously."

"That is where our dreams that don't make sense come from, isn't it?" Harry asked. "It's our future...past future selves memories because, technically, we have lived all of this before."

"Yes, we believe so," Lucius answered this time. "However, your childhoods this time around have been so much better for both of you than they were in that timeline. Everything is different this time around and you don't have to do anything that you don't want to do."

"But we are still soul mates. That's why we've always wanted to do everything together and, even when our other friends are here, it's not nearly as important as each other," Harry said.

"Yes."

"And that's why our wands did what they did, right?" Draco tried to clarify.

"We are assuming so. Soul mates are very rare and most people do not let others touch their wands. Even if they did, a person's bond to their wand is usually something considered very private and, thus, is most likely not written down anywhere," Severus answered their question that time.

"If our childhoods were different this time, what happened last time?" Harry wondered after a couple minutes of silence.

Sirius took this question. "I was in Azkaban for 12 years, falsely imprisoned. Moony was practically on the run because of his furry little problem. Severus and Lucius were both Death Eater spies. Draco, you were raised to be the perfect, cold pureblood heir. Harry, you were raised by the Dursleys', your mother's sister's family and were abused. You both practically hated each other, not wanting to give in to the bond, until you were 16 or 17."

"Oh," he muttered, not sure he wanted to know what had happened before now. "Can, um...can we be excused for a bit?"

"Take all the time you need. We will be available whenever you want to talk," Narcissa said.

With a quick nod, both boys climbed off the laps and took off upstairs toward Draco's room. Unlike usual, they did not sit together on the small couch to talk. Draco began to pace in front of his bookshelves as Harry curled up at the headboard of the bed. Neither knew how to begin and, thus, didn't say anything.

Harry spoke first. "I don't think I could ever hate you, even if they said that we did. It just...I don't know how it could be true." He bit his lip. "Could you hate me?"

"No," Draco said immediately. "No, not a chance," he crossed the room and climbed onto the bed before pulling Harry into a hug. "No chance ever." He rested his chin on the top of Harry's head as the shorter boy nuzzled his bent head against Draco's chest. "I was probably just jealous or something and it made it seem like we hated each other," he finally mused.

Harry just hummed, not agreeing or disagreeing. "Pansy's going to be mad," he muttered finally.

Confused Draco pulled back. "What?"

"She's had a crush on you forever. Everyone knows it."

"So why is she going to be mad?"

"Because you're mine," Harry said easily, reiterating the same line that Draco had used time after time in regards to him. "Our parent's even said so. So she can just...suck it."

Draco laughed. "Don't let Mum hear you say that, she'll wash your mouth out." Harry just grinned at him. "Besides, why would I want her. You're way cuter than she is." He smirked at the red blush that quickly made it's way across Harry's pale features. "Well, you are. She looks a lot like that ugly dog in the picture of Aunt Walburga."

Harry snorted with laughter and buried his face against Draco so as to try and hide the inappropriate laughter. "That's so mean!"

"But it's true," the blond said unapologetically. After a moment, he joined Harry in the giggles that still racked through the slightly smaller boy and they laid on the bed just giggling at the hilarity of the situation.

Sure they'd always laid claim to each other when they were younger, both verbally and by action, but they had never really considered that they really did, in a way, own each other. Half the time, it seemed that people just treated them like brothers (not quite twins as Harry was nearly always treated younger by people, especially strangers because he had always been smaller than Draco, even though there wasn't 2 full months between them in age). In a way, it was sort of surreal that even Magic was agreeing that they were supposed to be together. Homosexuality in the wizarding world wasn't extremely common, but it wasn't really rare either. The biggest problem was the Muggleborns that came into the Wizarding World with the, very Muggle, impression that homosexuality was a sin. While some did not agree with the practice, it was legal and it was not morally wrong, especially when there were still ways for the wizards and witches who were homosexual could procreate. Harry and Draco had both been raised to believe that there were no wrong opinions (it was difficult to have all the same thoughts as everyone else growing up in a family of 2 Gryffindor men, 2 Slytherin men, and 1 Slytherin woman), only differing opinions on all topics and thus were extremely annoyed when others tried to force their opinions on them.

When their giggles finally died down, Draco spoke again. "So, now that we know and are growing up, do you think they will still let us share a bed?"

Harry looked at Draco incredulously before they both burst into laughter again. They were too young to really think about each other in a sexual way and, even if they did think of each other like that, their parents weren't about to stop them from sharing a sleeping space. Their magic fed off of and stabilized each other and required a certain amount of close proximity each day.

He still remembered hearing stories (and they came up quite often in arguments) about when they were about 3 years old and Draco had come down with Dragon Pox and Harry had the Chicken Pox (he caught them while out in Muggle London with Remus) and they couldn't be in the same room because both were contagious, but they couldn't be separate because they needed each other to heal best so they had ended up sick for nearly 3 weeks as they healed from their first illness only to get the illness that the other had had. The worst part was that it was in the middle of the school year and there had been a huge case that Sirius was working on at the Ministry so Narcissa and Remus (as he could close the tutoring center for a few days) had taken the brunt of caring for the two fussy, sick toddlers.

Harry rolled over, laying his head on Draco's stomach like the blond had done to him so many times when they were little. "Do you think we'll be able to make friends at Hogwarts?"

"Of course! We're brilliant!" the blond said automatically, though he silently wondered the same thing. They had hung out off and on with various kids their age, Susan Bones, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Ron Weasley, and a few others, but most of the time the others didn't get why Harry always agreed with Draco and vice versa on what they wanted to do or why they always wanted to be on the same team. It was hard for them to relate much to the others their age as they had grown up with just each other around most of the time or with the older students and adults at Hogwarts. "Besides," he amended, "there will still be the older students that we are already friends with there, too. And Uncle Sev, Uncle Padfoot, and Uncle Moony. And all the other professors." He paused. "Besides, we can't be the only kids our age that like the things that we do," he sounded a little less sure of himself, but wasn't extremely worried as they did know that they would always have each other, no matter what happened, with or without the soul bond.

Harry sighed, but otherwise didn't comment as Draco began to play with his hair. It was another unconscious gesture they had picked up over the years. Both of them loved the feeling of people playing with their hair and, almost without realizing it, they had picked up on their parents' habit of playing with their hair whenever they were in a position to do so. Every now and then they would jokingly speculate as to where the habit came into being. It was nearly a unanimous decision that the habit had come from trying futilely to tame Harry's hair as a toddler, much to the raven's amusement.

"Hey, Draco?" Harry asked as he felt the hand in his hair begin to slow and the chest under his head fall and rise at a slower, more even pace.

"Hmm?" the blond hummed in acknowledgement.

"Promise me that, no matter what else is going on, we will always have time for just us."

"I promise."

"I promise, too," Harry muttered back watching their magic glow comfortingly around their linked hands (the one of Draco's not in his hair) before closing his eyes and allowing sleep to overtake him as his emotions mellowed from the craziness of the day.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Yay! Finally an update! Sorry for the long wait. Summer semester kicked my trash and now I'm at the end of the second week of Fall semester and already getting my trash kicked. As it is, I wrote this chapter mostly when I was supposed to be taking notes in a couple of my classes. However, as I can only have my laptop in 3 of my classes, I can't guarantee how often I will be able to update. **

**Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing and for sticking with me for this long.**

**Chapter 9**

The boys were the last two down the next morning for breakfast. Lucius and Remus were already nearly through with what was on their plates, Narcissa was about half way through with her bowl of porridge, though it didn't look like she had started on her fruit bowl yet, Severus was nursing a cup of coffee but had yet to start on any solid food, and Sirius was hurriedly rushing through a plate of toast and bacon as he finished trying to get ready. Draco yawned and dropped into his seat to his father's left, across from his mother. The elves piled 4 banana nut pancakes on his plate with caramel sauce and 3 sausage links. Harry, slightly more awake than the blond, sat to his right, with Sirius on his other side and Severus across from him. The elves also put 4 pancakes on his plate, though his were plain and had strawberry topping, and 2 slices of bacon and a sausage link. He grinned at Draco as he passed him a bowl of fruit from the center of the table and the blond muttered sleepily as he tried to cut the pancakes with his spoon.

"Harry, be a dear and give Draco the proper utensil," Narcissa said with a small smile from across the room.

"Of course, Aunt Cissy." He moved the spoon from his best friend's hand and, with an ease born of practice, traded it out with his own fork before taking Draco's fork as his own. The taller boy barely noticed and continued to eat. Harry knew by now that, until he'd been awake for at least 20 minutes, and, preferably, had some food in his system, Draco was useless in the mornings. The only reason he was even dressed in clothes that matched was because they usually laid their clothes out the night before, though today Harry had chosen both their clothes after seeing Draco try to put on his swimming trunks and a button up shirt (they were both dressed casually in cargo shorts and t-shirts as they were planning on exploring the woods at the back of Malfoy Manor between breakfast and lunch).

Harry grinned as Sirius kissed both their heads, grabbed another piece of toast and dashed to the Floo, running late for work once again. Every couple days, Sirius slept too late and had to rush through breakfast to make it to work at least sort of on time. Just as they were finishing, Lucius stood and, like Sirius did, kissed them on top of their heads before heading up to his study to gather his belongings together before his meeting at the Ministry.

The raven loved the familiarity of the morning routine in the Manor. He and Draco were almost always next to leave to go on whatever adventure they were planning that day, be it swimming in the pond or exploring the forest or playing on the Quidditch Pitch. Narcissa would take the time, once they left, to read the newspaper for the day while nursing her cup of tea and was typically the last to leave because of that. Severus and Remus switched off between who would leave first. Sometimes, Remus would leave first to go work on his writing or to read in the library. Other times, Severus would leave first, always to go down to the lab. Ever since they were about 7 or 8, they had been free to do as they wished in the mornings and in the afternoons they did their studies.

He was jerked out of his thoughts as his fork was forcibly removed from his hand. He looked at the blond boy next to him. "What was that for?"

"You were being slow, I am done," Draco said as if that made everything make sense.

Harry rolled his eyes took Draco's fork from his now empty plate. "I'm almost done, give me a minute," he took another bite of his pancakes.

Draco, having finally woken up, was practically vibrating in his seat next to him ready to get on with their adventures for the day. It was going to be their last day before they went off to school and he was anxious to play as much as they were able to before they had to get into the real routine of school and work.

Finally, Harry finished the food on his plate and grabbed an apple to munch on as they walked to the forest before standing. "Come on, blondie, what's the hold up?" he joked as he kissed Narcissa's cheek and head toward the door.

Draco growled at him and, after also kissing his mother's cheek dashed out of the dining room after the raven. "I'll get you for that!" he shouted after the quicker, smaller boy.

Narcissa just smiled and returned to reading her newspaper, listening as the boys dashed through the yard. She knew that she would miss that when the boys went off to school, the house would be way too silent without them. Between the boys, there was never a dull moment in the house. They were very high energy and always working on a new adventure or project. Ever since they got their wands, they had also begun to practice simple spells that they would be using during their first year (under parental supervision as Lucius had their wands locked in his study) and were excelling at that. The competition they had with each other about who could get it first always made those study times a loud, high energy time as well.

In a way, she was glad that the boys were going off to school. While they had friends, they were not able to get together very often and the boys often forgot about their friends, getting distracted with each other. It had been a problem they had had since they were younger. They'd since a few friends twice since they had learned about their soul bond and had put more of an effort in to include Blaise and Theo in what they were doing, but they still gravitated toward each other and, Narcissa suspected, they would always do so. For their sake, she hoped they were sorted into the same house as they had never gone more than two days without sleeping in the same room as both got anxious and moody as that 48 hour mark approached.

As for which house they were going to be sorted into, Narcissa wasn't sure she could guess. She doubted that they would be sorted into Hufflepuff. While they were hardworking, they were loyal to each other first and foremost, then to herself and the other men that helped raise them, then, even less so, to their friends and rarely to anyone else. Gryffindor was a possibility, neither were afraid of much of anything though they only had moments of foolhardy rushing in that Sirius and Harry's biological father, James Potter, were both known for. Ravenclaw was likely, they were both very studios when they choose to be so. They were more likely to turn to the books to find an answer before turning to any adults for the answer and, even then, they usually just asked for somewhere where they would be able to find the answers themselves. However, they rarely had the desire to just sit and read as the majority of the Ravenclaws she knew. Slytherin, again, was a possibility. They had the ability to be sneaky and cunning and they were most definitely ambitious, always trying to be the best, do it first, do something new or different that hasn't been seen before.

Narcissa sighed and put her tea aside. It was the last day she would get to spend with her boys until Christmas break and she'd be damned if she was going to sit inside all day and not spend the time with the boys. After changing into a looser brown cotton skirt that fell to just below her knees instead of her usual pencil dress or long robes and a flowing white linen button-up shirt on top. She slipped into a pair of ankle high boots before heading out to the backyard where, when Harry saw her, the boys ran over. "Aunt Cissy, come look at what we found!" Harry called as they dashed over.

Grabbing her hands, Draco babbled, "You have got to see it, Mum, We were just hunting for mushrooms in the woods like usual and trying to find a new kind or find some so Dobby can make the yummy mushroom chicken tonight because it is totally my favorite, but Harry called dibs on favorite dessert since we don't know if the Hogwarts elves are going to be as good of cooks as Dobby and Dotty. Anyway, you should totally come and see what we found! It is so cool, we found a-"

"Don't tell her!" Harry interrupted. "We decided we were just going to show her!"

"Oh, right, sorry." They didn't talk further as they nearly dragged Narcissa into a small clearing a short distance into the woods where they can still see the Manor. "Now, be quite, Harry has to get them to come out again."

The raven let go of her hand and knelt in front of an old fallen log. He began to hiss softly and a pair of baby snakes slithered out of a nest just under the edge of the log. Draco dropped down to his knees as well and each of the babies slid into each of the boys' hands. "Mum, look how cute they are!"

Narcissa froze as the snakes slithered around in their hands. Logically, she remembered that Harry was a parselmouth, but seeing it was something completely different. Her entire being tensed up even more as she caught sight of the markings on the snakes. "Boys, do you realize those are poisonous?"

"Oh, yeah, we know. Draco identified the type and I convinced them not to bite. They are old enough to know better, thankfully."

"Sweetheart," Narcissa said hesitantly. "You know you can't take babies from their mother."

"But she's already dead. They will die without us!" Draco said emphatically. "We can't just leave them here! They are too little!"

"Draco, you can only take one pet to Hogwarts and snakes are not on that list."

"Can we at least talk to Sev and Siri and Remy to see if we can keep them in their quarters if we promise to take care of them?" Harry asked softly, not wanting to leave the tiny snakes out in the wilderness without anyone to care for them. "I promise we'll take good care of them. Please?"

"Very well," Narcissa said with a sigh. "Remus and Severus are up at the house, you may go ask now."

Each of them cradling the snake in one palm and against their chest, the other hand each in one of Narcissa's. The walk back up to the house was much slower than the one down to the forest had been. She led the boys up to the library after they had kicked off their dirt caked shoes at the door. "Remus, the boys have a question to ask you," Narcissa said, ushering the pre-teens toward the desk that the werewolf was using.

He turned around. "What can I do for you, cubs?"

They slid the snakes onto the desk. "Can we keep them?" the asked in unison, their vibrant eyes pleading up at the amber eyes.

He slid his chair back even farther and slid up. "Those are adders."

"They won't bite, we made them promise not to," Harry pleaded.

"I refuse to make the decision on my own. Dotty," he called for one of the house elves. When she popped in, he asked, "If Severus is at a stopping point, please ask him to come up to the library." She nodded and popped back out.

It was another 15 minutes until Severus were able to come up. He, too, froze upon seeing the adders on the desk. "What exactly are the baby adders doing on the desk?"

"Can we keep them?" the boys asked once again.

He listened as they pleaded their case for the next twenty minutes. Finally, he looked at Remus who indicated that it was his choice. "You may keep them on several conditions," Severus told them. They cheered anyway. "First, you will be the ones to take care of them, it will not be my responsibility, Sirius' responsibility, or Remus' responsibility."

"We can do that."

"Second, they stay in tanks the majority of the time. I do not want them going free."

They paused as Harry spoke to the snakes. "They agreed to that provided they get plenty of mice."

"Third, the tanks and snakes will not leave our quarters, they are poisonous and while you may trust them, I am not going to risk the rest of the school."

"Okay, but can we take them out during holidays?" Draco asked.

"That should be fine, provided you have permission first."

"Any other rules?" Harry asked.

"Yes, any shed skin is mine for potions ingredients and, if they agree, I am also allowed to milk the venom for potion's ingredients."

Another brief conversation with the snakes then Harry looked up, "They agree."

"Then you may keep them." He had to put one hand back on the chair beside him to steady himself as the boys threw their arms around him and chanted "thank you" repeatedly.

"Go find the tanks out in the menagerie and I will take them back to Hogwarts tonight." They dashed out of the room with the snakes.

Severus noticed that Narcissa and Remus were looking at him incredulously. "We wouldn't have heard the end of it for weeks if we had said no. Besides, it will teach them responsibility. Now, I have to go finish up the potions that I was working on."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: What, an update? What is this craziness? Sorry, I know it's been forever. If you read any of my other stories, there should be an update on all of them, hopefully, within the next month, including a second update on this story…if all goes as planned which RL doesn't always allow for. However, I shall do my best. Thanks for reading lovelies!**

**Chapter 10**

The next morning, because of their excitement and consequential late night the night previous, Harry and Draco didn't wake up until Narcissa came in to get them at 8. Harry was the first up as he, with a yawn and stretch, made his way to the connected bathroom. Draco just rolled into the spot that Harry had freed and buried his head under the covers in the warm spot of the sheets where Harry's torso had been laying. Narcissa grinned and pulled the covers down off his head. "Come on, little dragon, you need to get ready to board the train."

His head poked out, still half hidden under the pillow Harry had used. "Train?"

"It's September 1st, dear, you leave for Hogwarts today," she reminded him softly.

He sprung out of bed, still half asleep, but excited nonetheless, and dashed off toward the bathroom with a slightly tipsy gait.

Narcissa laughed lightly at Harry's shout as Draco, still not fully coherent, jumped in the shower with him still in there. With a shake of her head, she pulled out the boy's uniforms and laid them on the bed. "Hurry downstairs boys, I want us to have breakfast together before you leave," she called to them through the cracked bathroom door. She heard their affirmative answers then left the room.

Harry was the first of the two down. He plopped into his seat with a pout and began to serve himself a plate of french toast.

Draco came down a few minutes later, tie around his neck, but not tied, skidding into the room in just his socks. "Come on, Ry, give me a break!"

He just glared and grabbed the bowl of fruit.

"What's going on boys?" Lucius asked.

Harry didn't look up, so they looked to Draco for the answers.

"I got in the shower with him by accident and he is mad because he thinks I took all the water."

"I rinsed my hair in the sink!" Harry snapped. "You said you were cold when you weren't directly underneath the spray and wouldn't move to let me finish rinsing my hair completely. Of course I'm mad, Draco."

He huffed and sat beside Harry, taking the bowl of fruit that the raven had dished up for him and beginning to eat. "Then we're just going to have to get a bigger shower then, aren't we."

Sirius, Severus, and Lucius all choked on their drinks as Narcissa's cheeks tinged pink and Remus hid his face behind the newspaper saying, "I am so not touching that one."

Lucius cleared his throat and commented first, "Or, you could shower one at a time."

Draco looked at him confused. "Why? It's not like we have different parts or anything. And there are plenty of pictures of us bathing together in the past, like, even up to last year. It's not like it's a big deal or anything."

"For my sanity, please just shower alone," Lucius pleaded. He didn't want to think about his son and godson in a compromising position, let alone have it talked about so casually.

Draco just shrugged and turned back to Harry. "I promise next time that I won't hog the water. And you can totally steal all the blankets tonight and I won't even complain."

The raven sighed. "Yes, you will. But I might do it anyway." He passed Draco a cup of grape juice. "Just let me be mad for a bit, then we'll be fine, just like always."

"Good," he turned back to his food. "I don't like it when we are fighting, and I know you don't either."

Severus cleared his throat and changed the topic. "Are you all packed for the train ride? I know you think one of us will just Floo home if you forget anything, but it isn't going to happen."

"Yes, Uncle Sev," Draco said easily. "We made a packing list and had Mum check it and everything. The trunks are packed and ready to be taken to school. Are you still going to take them with you so we don't have to mess with them on the train?"

He nodded. "If that is what you wish."

Harry shook his head in the affirmative this time. "Yes. We will wear our robes through the Floo and we each have our backpacks with stuff to do in them."

"Harry, do you have your potion?" Remus asked, knowing that he got motion sick through most modes of transportation.

"Yes. And Draco has a spare, just in case."

"We each have a spare sweater -"

"And snacks -"

"And some coin in case we want one of the treats off the trolley," Draco grinned.

"And my blanket for when we nap," Harry grinned sheepishly. They'd taken long trips before, though never by train, and, without fail, they always ended up asleep no more than two hours into the trip no matter when they had gone to sleep the night before or when they had gotten up that morning. He found it rather annoying as he actually loved to see the different sights as they traveled, but, at the same time, he couldn't deny he loved falling asleep in their usual position: Draco leaning against the window or wall or side of whatever it was they were riding in, and his head in Draco's lap.

"Oh!" Severus remembered something he had intended to ask before. "I want you to try an experiment today. Harry, you're always the first to fall asleep. Don't bother to do anything different. Draco, try and avoid sleep for as long as you can after he falls asleep. You both seem to sleep and wake within no more than 30 minutes of each other, but normally we don't mind because it works, try to see if it has something to do with your soul bond or if it has just been coincidence for the last 11 or so years."

"We have not," both 11-year-olds protested, mostly to go against what they were being told. It was highly likely that something like that happened. Their eyes met, though Harry looked away quickly, still annoyed with Draco.

"Really?" Lucius drawled. He, too, had noticed the same thing, but had never thought of it beyond that. "Are you sure that you haven't?"

They looked at each other for a few minutes in silence, communicating with their eyes. "Okay, maybe you're right," Draco said, the pair of them fully agreeing on something for the first time that morning.

"Just try it out," Narcissa told them as she stood. "Now, it's time to say our goodbyes before we head to the station." While they were more affectionate in public than they were in the memories Draco had told them when they were 17, none of them were really comfortable showing negative emotions in public, even Sirius and Remus, and, while they were all happy that the boys were going to be at Hogwarts, they were still going to miss the boys something fierce and Narcissa was trying to avoid crying in public. "Now, come and give me a hug."

Even before she had her words finished, two sets of thin arms had thrown themselves around her waist and were squeezing her tightly. Narcissa wrapped an arm around each of their backs and placed kisses on top of their heads. "You boys be good, alright? I don't want to get any letters from your teachers unless it is saying how spectacular you are."

"Yes, Momma," Draco muttered as Harry nodded into her ribcage.

"Good boys," she pulled back and knelt in front of them. With a quick silencing charm, she grinned at them, "Good, now, Lucius, Sirius, Remus, and I have bet on which house you are going to, so do me a favor and be sorted into Ravenclaw, alright?"

"Sev isn't betting?" Harry asked confused.

"We decided he couldn't bet because he is Head of Slytherin."

"Oh, that makes sense. We'll see what happens, Momma," Draco said before kissing her cheek.

Harry wrapped his arms around her neck for another hug. "I'm gonna miss you," he whispered in her ear, his voice thick with unshed tears.

"I'm going to miss you, too, little love. Watch out for Draco and make sure he does the same for you."

He nodded, still not releasing her. "What if we are sorted in separate houses? What if he's in Slytherin and I'm in Gryffindor all alone?"

"We will still love you regardless and you will see each other every other night in Dragon Quarters. You can still be friends, no matter which house you are in."

"Promise?"

"I promise." She pulled back. "Go give, Uncle Luc a hug. It's almost time to head out."

He wiped his eyes roughly with the back of his hand then turned and dashed over to Lucius who easily scooped him into a tight hug, holding him completely off the ground.

Narcissa turned back to Draco and pulled him into another hug. "Take care of yourself and of Harry, alright my dragon?"

"Of course, Momma." He hugged her tight. "I promise to write all the time, too, at least twice a week."

"I know you will, love. Have lots of fun, too, okay? And try not to get in too much trouble. Severus is your professor now and I expect you both to respect him as such and not give him too much grief."

"Of course, Momma."

"And I want you to do your absolute best in all of your subjects, even the ones you don't like. And keep up with your studies in the subjects that we were studying at home."

Draco laughed. "I know, Momma. We'll be good and do our homework and try not to get annoyed by the people who aren't as smart as us."

Narcissa tapped the back of his head in warning. "And be nice to everyone, regardless of their level of intelligence." She kissed his cheek. "Go give your father a hug, it is almost time to go."

Draco turned to hug his father (Harry had already been passed into Sirius's arms as he wasn't going to see the Auror as often as he was used to and was going to miss him as well) and squeaked slightly as he was lifted off his feet. He was quite a bit taller than Harry and wasn't picked up or toted around nearly as often as the other boy was, so it was an unusual experience for him.

"I'm going to miss you, Dragon."

"I'll miss you, too, Dad,"

They were quiet for a minute. "Try not to give Severus too much trouble. I know you both will do me proud."

"We'll be good as we always are, Dad. I'll write to you tonight to let you know what house we are in."

"Good, let me know for sure that you are in Slytherin."

Draco laughed. "I know all about your wager. Mum told me to make sure we're in Ravenclaw."

Harry overheard that comment and giggled. "Siri just made me promise that we are in Gryffindor."

Draco looked over at Remus. "What did you bet on? Hufflepuff?"

"Goodness no. Neither of you like people enough to do well in that house. I expect that you'll be sorted into different houses, throw a fit, and sleep in our quarters every night."

The 11-year-olds scoffed. "It's not going to happen," they growled, squirming back down to the ground, Harry automatically seeking out Draco's side as the older boy wrapped a protective arm around his shoulders.

"It is still a possibility," Remus said diplomatically. "This is not a bet I wish to win, I am simply throwing out the option."

"Good." Both boys hugged him. "We will see you lots at school. I like the tutoring center," Harry said honestly.

"I know, you will."

Severus also knelt down to give them a quick hug. "Remus and I need to go to make it to the meeting on time, but we will see you this evening. Don't do anything to get in trouble before the semester even begins, okay?"

"We promise," they chorused before stepping back to allow the two men to head back to the faculty meeting at Hogwarts.

A moment after they left, Narcissa sighed. "Alright, it's time to go to the Platform. Sirius, you Floo ahead to make sure nothing is wrong. If we don't hear from you within the minute, I will follow with Draco then Lucius and Harry will bring up the rear."

"Of course, Cissy. See you in a minute," Sirius said with a minor salute before stepping into the green flames and Flooing away.

When he didn't immediately appear, Narcissa stepped into the Floo with Draco by her side. She kept a hand on his shoulder and, with a quick word on her part, Flooed away. Lucius picked Harry up and swung him to his back before following his wife and son.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: What, an update? No way! The madness! Sorry, I know it's been forever. If you read any of my other stories, there should be an update on all of them, hopefully, within the next …semi-near future…if all goes as planned which RL doesn't always allow for. However, I shall do my best. **

**Out of curiosity, which house do you hope to see the boys in? Vote in a review!**

**Chapter 11**

The platform was already packed by the time that they got through, but it was only to be expected as the train was leaving in less than 15 minutes. Narcissa and Draco were waiting for Harry and Lucius, but Sirius was nowhere in sight. His location, however, was answered a few moments later when he stuck his head out a window of the train, "I got an empty compartment for you guys!"

Harry laughed and slid off of Lucius's back as the four made their way to the excited Auror on the train. Draco grabbed his hand and nearly dragged him behind the blond to the train. They squirmed their way through people and trunks and animals as they climbed aboard the train.

"Best compartment on the train," Lucius commented as they entered the smallish compartment. There was only a quarter sized luggage rack overhead and only five seats instead of the usual 8, which made it not as popular among most of the students, but for Harry and Draco, it would easily be the best as they could sit by each other without having to worry about anyone else trying to sit by them, but they could still have friends come in if they wanted to. A lot of students would put their luggage in with their friends then come in for make out sessions or like. "Who did you have to kick out to get this?"

"Psh...why do you think I had to kick someone out?" Narcissa and Lucius both just looked at Sirius's attempt at an innocent expression. "It was just some sixth year Hufflepuffs, no big deal."

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes as he took the middle seat on the left side of the compartment. "Siri, that's not very nice."

He collapsed next to the raven, throwing his arm around the thin shoulders., "But I wanted nothing but the best for my lovely, darling godsons."

Harry just rolled his eyes again. He knew if he put up a fight about it, nothing would come of his argument and he really didn't want to spend their last time together before school starts with a fight. The 5 minute warning sounded and they all stood for hugs again. They were faster this time and, before it could really wrap his mind around it, Harry and Draco were alone in their compartment.

Shortly after the train began to depart, Blaise, Theodore, and Daphne showed up at the compartment doors. Harry was already laying across the three seater with his head in Draco's lap. Draco was watching out the window as he absently played with Harry's hair. "Hey, guys," Draco said casually. "Well, there's only two seats, but take them if you wish."

Daphne sighed and moved picked the raven's feet up before setting them in her own lap. "How have you guys been?"

"Pretty good," Harry told her, rolling onto his back and kicking off his shoes to the floor so he could actually have his feet in her lap without feeling bad about it. "Mostly just playing as much as we could before school started. You?"

"My parents took Astoria and me to Italy for the last three weeks before we left. I don't know why, though, Mother is taking Astoria to France all this month to 'ease the pain of me going to school'." Daphne rolled her eyes at the excuse. "How about you two?" she directed to Theodore and Blaise.

"Nothing as exciting as all that. Mother got married again," Blaise shrugged. It was his eighth stepfather and he didn't like this one any better than he had in the past. "Which means I'm probably going to be staying at school for the holidays."

"At least you could go home if you wanted to, if I'm not sorted into Slytherin, Dad promised to disown me. Said that he already had another son - a proper son - and didn't need me to disgrace him." He rolled his eyes. "I don't care, though. My aunt already promised me sanctuary should that happen, but that means that I will not be able to come back to Hogwarts."

Blaise ruffled the sandy locks easily. "Please, you'll be in Slytherin with us, no problems, and you will be able to go home if you want to. Or you can stay with me over the holidays." Blaise and Theo had spent more time together than any of their group, including the ones not currently in the compartment, except for Harry and Draco.

The compartment door opened again and Pansy poked her head in with Tracy. "Why don't you come back to our compartment, it's bigger," the only Parkinson girl of four kids suggested.

"I'd really rather stay here," Draco said before Harry could answer. As predicted, Harry was already fighting sleep. Anything below racing on a broom in speed or moving of his own power, he fell asleep, as Severus had talked about earlier that morning.

Pansy glared at Harry, despite the fact that Draco had spoken, and Draco was forcibly reminded about what Harry had said regarding Pansy's crush on him. "Are you sure you don't want to come, Draco?"

"Positive. I prefer the company in here, but thank you for the offer anyway." Ignoring any further propriety, not that his comment could have been construed as proper, particularly by any of their parents, anyhow, he opened his book and propped it up against Harry's chest as he picked up on where he'd last left off, one hand absent mindedly moving to play with Harry's hair, moving only to turn pages. Draco heard Theo snort under his breath at the just this side of polite answer but he ignored it and continued with his book silently.

"Is Tracey with you?" Daphne asked the pug faced girl.

"Yes, she and Millicent, and some of the others of our group."

"I'll come with you." She moved Harry's feet carefully off of her lap, but covered him with her outer cloak so he didn't get cold during his rest. "I'll see you when we get to school," she said to the four boys, though only three were able to acknowledge what she said. She had just worn her school uniform to the train station as she had Flooed in with her parents.

"See you later Daphne, save us a seat at the Slytherin table, would you?" Draco asked, knowing she would be the first of the five of them to be sorted.

She grinned. "Of course. But I claim a seat next to Harry." The blonde brushed a hand through the sleeping boy's hair playfully. "Come on, Parkinson, let's go meet up with the others."

There was almost a visible sigh of relief as the girls left. Pansy had it bad for Draco, even at this early of an age, and it made all of them physically uncomfortable. Theo was the first to speak.

"So you and Harry are acting different."

Draco put his book aside. "What?"

"You guys have always been close, but even just today, you guys are just more...together, if that makes sense. It's like you don't care about anything or anyone else. Before, you would have been nice to Pansy, if only to appease her parents, but now..."

Blaise picked up the string of thought. "You got even more protective of him than usual. When Daphne sat by his feet, you immediately latched on to him, ready to take hold if she tried anything, not that she would. You've always been protective of him but now it's almost more...possessive."

Draco sighed. "We can explain when we get to school. It's nothing that we can say where we might be overheard. It's important, and we aren't ashamed, but we kind of want to keep it quiet for now." He yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm just-"

"Tired." Blaise and Theo grinned together. "We know."

Blaise continued alone. "You both always sleep when we travel, particularly long distances."

"We brought things to keep us occupied, for when you fell asleep."

Draco smirked sleepily. "Are we that predictable?"

"Pretty much."

He chuckled. "Then you can protect us and make sure nobody does anything stupid." He turned slightly in the seat so he was leaning more against the corner of the compartment, moving one leg carefully to bracket Harry, slouching down so the raven's head was pillowed on his stomach rather than his thigh. It was only moments before he, too drifted off into sleep.

When they were given the 15 minute warning, Blaise woke Draco first who, in turn, woke Harry. Pansy was immediately on them as they were called to the boats. "Sorry, Parkinson, Theo and I already called dibs on riding with Draco and Harry," Blaise said smugly as the four climbed into a boat, ignoring her protests that they had already ridden with Draco during the entire train ride.

She glared as she was forced into a boat with the latest Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and a bushy haired girl that none of them recognized. Tracey and Daphne were in a boat with Crabbe and Goyle, whom they mostly only tolerated, but would protect either of the girls without a second thought.

They listened as McGonagall gave them the rules with half an ear, having heard them enough times from Severus, and again as they were lead into the Great Hall and the sorting hat sang its song. Harry sidled closer as he listened to the song and slid his hand into Draco's loose fingers. The blond immediately squeezed Harry's hand lightly before interlocking their fingers and bringing Harry's arm around his waist so the raven haired boy was hugging him from behind. Harry tilted his chin so he could speak softly into Draco's ear. "What if they split us up?"

Draco could feel the odd looks from their peers at their actions, but he didn't care as he pulled Harry around in front of him so he could speak to the younger boy's ear more easily. "I won't let them," he hissed urgently. "You are mine and nobody will take you from me. Not again."

Ever since he could remember, the nights that they slept apart, he awoke with a terror. He felt as if he could no longer feel Harry until a good five or more minutes after he had awoken and calmed enough to feel of their bond himself. They knew the story of what had happened after Harry's parents had first died, they had grown up knowing it, and he knew that that was where the feeling of loss had stemmed from, and Draco had sworn on his magic, that first night after they'd gotten their wands after Harry had fallen asleep with his head lying on Draco's stomach, that he would do everything that he could to prevent further separation from his soul mate.

He wrapped his arms fully around Harry's waist and nuzzled his nose into the back of Harry's head. "You are mine and no silly old hat is going to split us up."

Draco listened with half an ear as McGonagall called the names of their peers. He figured Harry would learn them and he could pick up on it as he went if necessary. He did not care for the majority of them that he did know and it was probably a safe assumption that he wouldn't like the others. Finally, his name was called.

Draco lifted his chin slightly and stepped forward, not allowing his nerves to get the best of him before the sorting. He held on to Harry's fingers until they were both stretched to the full before releasing his hand to quickly sit on the stool. He turned and sat on the familiar seat for the first time in his life (Severus had always caught him when he was younger and tried to get the hat on when they managed to sneak into the Great Hall during previous sortings).

"Ah, Master Malfoy, I was wondering when I would be seeing you...oh, but what is this...you have been sorted by me once before? Slytherin, eh, not a bad choice, but you are not the same person that you were in that timeline, now are you? You have your other half to consider this time, don't you." Draco found his mind automatically drifting to memories and images of Harry. "Ah...well that does change things, now doesn't it? Slytherin does not quite fit the both of you, particularly not any longer, although perhaps..." There was a long stretch of silence. "Yes, I see...Yes, I do believe the pair of you shall flourish together while separately...no, together it will be. Therefore, it better be..."


End file.
